Meanwhile I’m waiting with bated breath for the results of Lord Smith’s review of UK government film policy on Monday. I do hope it is more nuanced than Cameron’s simplistic demand that the film industry should support “commercially successful pictures.” As Ben Blaine pointed out, this comment reminded him of the Crystal Maze “when those players not taking part in a challenge would shout redundant advice like “TRY REALLY HARD!” or “JUST GET THE CRYSTAL!!”

This video is NSFW by the way.

1. Does the film have two women with names in it?
2. Do these two women talk to each other?
3. Do they talk to each other about something other than a man?

Hat Tip: Ted Hope

Doctors Without Borders/MSF Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/MSF_USA

Partners in Health have been on the ground in Haiti for over 20 years so I think it’s definitely worth getting involved with their Stand With Haiti campaign – give money and spread the word! Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/PIH_org

I’m also really happy to see people using technology for good and sending so much money via cell phones. The charges are added to your phone bill so it’s safe and easy.

To donate to the Red Cross: Text HAITI to 90999 ($10 donation). Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/redcross

To donate to Yéle Haiti: Text YELE to 501501 ($5 donation). Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/yelehaiti

UPDATE: The Washington Post have published an article showing that Yele Haiti are under financial scrutiny so you may want to stick with the Red Cross, MSF and Partners In Health.

The Huffington Post has also posted a list of ways to help.

Ushahidi are crowdsourcing information here.

Global Voices are collating reports here.

MediaShift have lots of good links for news and donating here.

Despite the lack of chickens I believe that the choices we make as individuals are hugely important and make a real difference so I am going to continue on my path of occasional hypocrisy, frequent sanctimony and absolute joy (swapping the subway for a bicycle!)

But we also need to come together to find solutions as communities which is why initiatives like Blog Action Day (which is today – hence this post!) and 350.0rg’s International Day of Climate Action are such a good idea. And we need to pressure our governments to make the really big policy changes. I’m heartily behind Gandhi’s “be the change you want to see in the world” but I’m pragmatic enough to realise that all my recycling and urban homesteading won’t amount to a hill of beans if governments don’t take action too. That’s why I’ve added my name to the Tck Tck Tck campaign.

I’m really not interested in yet more arguments about the scientific proof for global warming. Texas-sized islands of trash in the Pacific are SCARY and WRONG. We are not living sustainably on this planet and it’s going to bite us on the bum sooner or later. I’d rather err on the side of change and take action now.

Yours piously (but I stand by it),
Ingrid

UPDATE: You can also sign your name to the 10:10 campaign to cut emissions by 10% in 2010.

I’ve been watching lots of films about HIV/AIDS recently and reading a lot on the subject too. As a result I’ve been pressing copies of Stephanie Nolan’s 28 Stories About AIDS in Africa and Elisabeth Pisani’s The Wisdom of Whores into the palms of my friends who are probably thinking “Oh piss off you sanctimonious bore” but I promise you these books are anything but.

SnagFilms are marking the day with two films streaming free online, We Will Not Die Like Dogs (which I’ve linked to below) and India’s Hidden Plague. Misinformation and silence around the disease is still rife in many parts of the world – and the actions and policies of governments and other organizations (like churches for example) make a huge difference in how HIV/AIDS is dealt with on a national level, and how it is treated and perceived by local communities. There was an interesting article in The Guardian last week about a Harvard study that calculated the number of people in South Africa who died because of Mbeki’s denial of the link between HIV and AIDS:
The authors estimate that more than 330,000 people died unnecessarily in South Africa over the period and that 35,000 HIV-infected babies were born who could have been protected from the virus and would probably have a limited life.

There may still be no cure but ARVs are making a huge, positive difference in communities that once stood no chance against the ravages of the disease. So let’s make sure we continue to fight the good fight.

Also, women of the world I do salute you but make sure you vote. Emily Wilding Davison threw herself in front of the King’s horse in the UK for the right to vote. All we have to do is go to the polling station.

‘Content’ is not just an economic asset. Content is culture. It is the currency through which we build a sense of who we are. There is a democratic imperative to give people the ability to contest, remake and critique it. A society that claims to value free speech and a vibrant, grassroots cultural life has an important tension to manage. It means making some difficult and groundbreaking choices, but as Lawrence Lessig observes, there can be some guiding principles: ‘We start with the principle of free speech, not the values of the proprietary network. We start with the principle and see what’s possible.’

Much of the report’s research findings are not going to be a great surprise to those of us who are already working in this space but the conclusions they draw are definitely worth a read. More than anything it is refreshing to hear this subject being taken as seriously as it deserves to be because I bet a lot of people would agree with the former Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski who said that he was “not an enthusiast of a young person sitting in front of a computer, watching video clips and pornography while sipping a bottle of beer and voting when he feels like it.” The report shows how much Kaczynski and others underestimate what young people are getting up to in front of their computers (although I’m sure pornography and beer are often involved!) and it shows how vitally important personal expression and participation are if young people are to fulfill their role in a democracy:

These ‘new democratic institutions and practices’ now need to incorporate a visual, expressive dimension to be meaningful to the next generation of voters and citizens. Consequently, the major question arising from experiments in the Video Republic for decision makers should not be ‘how do we use video to communicate our messages?’. Rather, along with everyone else, they should ask how democracies will operate in a time when young people expect to be able to directly represent their own, more nuanced versions of themselves. Popular culture and personal information will be their raw materials; and videos, blogs and social networking sites are currently their tools of choice.

Sameer Padania has written an interesting post on the report from a human rights perspective over on WITNESS’s The Hub blog:

Video Republic is focused on online video-sharing among youth on a local level in Europe (specifically the UK, Turkey, Germany, Romania and Finland), and so doesn’t include or reference many international initiatives like Video 24/7 or the Hub, but they extract lessons for anyone working with video and inclusion anywhere, many of which are at the heart of why we built the Hub.

You can watch a video from Demos introducing the Video Republic here:

As you may know, I’m back in the U.S. after ten days being detained by the State Security Services in Nigeria. I’d been in Nigeria for six months filming DELTA BOYS (http://deltaboys.com/) about the oil conflict in the Niger Delta. I was picked up while filming at the Nembe Waterside in Port Harcourt. Nembe Waterside is a bustling port through which all kinds of traffic flows. It’s a point of entry to the Niger Delta creeks where villagers fish and militants are encamped. I was arrested while filming women bringing their products to market, and was falsely accused of espionage.

In the end, I was never charged with a crime. I was turned over to immigration and deported. While I regret that I didn’t manage to spend just a few more weeks there filming, I am happy to be back in New York with six months worth of footage.

Unfortunately, my Nigerian translator Samuel George and my friend and host Joe Bussio are still in Port Harcourt. They were also arrested and harassed simply because of their association with me. While I’m safe in my Brooklyn apartment, I’m doing everything I can to assure their well-being.

Joe has been cleared of all charges. Samuel is expected to report to the SSS again in a few days. During the course of this ordeal, Joe and Samuel incurred $10,000 in legal expenses. We have raised $2,000 from the support of Reporters Without Borders (http://www.rsf.org/), and $3,000 from the Committee to Protect Journalists (http://cpj.org/) and the Correspondents Fund (http://correspondentsfund.org/) combined. We’ve also raised over $1500 since Friday evening through donations from individuals, including a number of very generous D-Worders. But, we still need help to raise all the money.

To make a donation, please visit: http://helpandy.chipin.com/

As independent documentary filmmakers and journalists, we rely on people like Samuel and Joe, especially when working in unfriendly environments. When things go wrong, it’s our responsibility to help them. It is important that translators and local journalists around the world know that they can do their jobs without fear for their lives, their families, or the expenses they will incur on our behalf.

Thank you so much for your support.

Andrew Berends