My friend and Shooting People NY Editor Jesse Epstein shot this and you should watch it. It’s funny and shows you some very crafty ways to get rid of all that leftover Matzah.

Thanks to Agnes Varnum over at the Resources Blog for reminding me to watch the VPRO doc on Wikipedia. I heard about it via various tweets and blog posts from the Next Web conference in Amsterdam and finally got a chance to watch it earlier today.

As a fan of documentaries I am fascinated by debates around the idea of “truth” and the endless unpacking of the nature and meaning of the word. But I am also aware that sometimes you need to just get on with it and accept that you are always going to be telling a subjective, manipulated story and that you can only hope it is fair to your subjects and does not knowingly mislead your audience. This is NOT to say that anything goes. The “fair and balanced” claims of Fox News are laughable precisely because a news channel should strive to tell stories about the world that reflect the world, rather than a particular political viewpoint. Context is key here, as is media literacy. I know that I need to take Wikipedia entries with a rather large grain of salt although I’m always amazed by how accurate they usually are. Fox News on the other hand requires such a large dose of media alertness to weed out the factual snippets from the moralizing that I’m not sure I’m up to the job.

I think everyone in The Truth About Wikipedia makes some valid points but many of them are so determined to drive their point home that they miss the bigger picture. Andrew Keen is right that Web2.0 has resulted in a “cult of the amateur.” One of the results of this is that there is some really idiotic content across the web. Take for example this brilliant exchange in the YouTube comments for the Wikipedia doc:

NaNlolz
Andrew Keen is an narcisistic dumb@ss who just ‘doesn’t get it.’
Ignore him….(or in web2.0 lingo: vote him down!)

hemansunderwear
I bet you have 10 myspace pages and no girlfriends.

Some of these amateurs, however, produce incredible work, and in the process re-define all these terms we use so loosely: expert, amateur, producer, consumer etc. Knowledge and talent do not only, or even necessarily, come with a university degree. Keen speaks as though “experts” are somehow completely free of bias, inaccuracies and power struggles. And what defines an expert anyway? I wrote my Masters thesis on electricity and I still can’t change a plug! Sometimes I think people get stymied by their own logline. In Keen’s case: we are in an age of the amateur ergo all amateurs are incompetent and all experts are right. It just doesn’t follow.

Anyway, without getting into further debate about the nature of truth and knowledge, here is the doc about Wikipedia. See what you think. I like the quote from Ndesanjo Macha toward the end when he explains that the original meaning of amateur is people who love what they do. I think that Web2.0 at its best provides a platform where this love can be fully expressed, without any meddling from gatekeepers who may or may not get it. And if you want experts and curation, well you can have that too. Either/Or makes for good soundbites but it doesn’t explain the world we actually live in. What we need is more digital literacy that will help to explain this world and empower the next generation of expert amateurs.

I wrote about King Corn last year when it had its theatrical release. If you missed it back then, now is your chance to catch it on TV. The film is about two recent college graduates, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, who decide to move to rural Iowa to plant an acre of corn and follow it through the food production chain all the way to the dinner plate. Along the way they learn some rather nasty facts about the way our food is produced. The bottom line: Americans eat too much corn and the cost of food in this country does not reflect the true cost of producing it. The industrial process of food production is literally “fast food” and it is doing terrible things to our health and to the wider eco-system.

I have been getting rather obsessed with Michael Pollan’s writing because of King Corn and thinking about my food perhaps more than I’d like to! I just read Pollan’s excellent Power Steer article in The New Kings of Nonfiction (a fantastic book by the way, edited by This American Life’s Ira Glass).

Check out local listings for King Corn on the Independent Lens website. Dinner will never be the same again!

The kind of knee-jerk anti-Americanism you often get in Europe annoys me as much as knee-jerk anything else. It’s often simplistic, ill-informed, hypocritical, and driven by fear rather than thought. But there can be no doubt that there is a degree of cultural flattening taking place, and the culture usually flows in one direction only: out of the US (yeah yeah I know there are exceptions like The Office and The Beatles and The Queen). I miss the cultural differences I used to relish when traveling between the US and the UK, differences vanishing with global uber-brands and the world wide interweb.

PACT are worried that American TV imports are taking over the wee minds of Britain and even though this does smack a little of the “they’re stealing our jobs and our women!” border mentality that drives me up the blinking wall, I can also see their point. Apart from anything else, there should be healthy production and representation everywhere in the world and it starts with the kids y’all (Oh god, am I somehow proving their point by saying “y’all” when I’m British?). Watch PACT’s Badass Wombles of Central Park video. I’d love to hear comments if you feel strongly about the issue.

In closing I should add that I think Brits are safe from one particular American import - British children will NEVER, EVER start saying “fanny pack” with a straight face!

We are continuing to improve our WATCH FILM tools on Shooting People with lots of exciting new developments to help our members upload and share their work. We have just introduced an embed tool and to show you how lovely it is here is the trailer for We Are Together made by Shooters Paul Taylor and Teddy Leifer, a wonderful documentary about a group of AIDS orphans from South Africa who form a choir.

UPDATE: We’re working on this RIGHT NOW so this video may go through a few different versions and look a bit different each time. This is beta baby!

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Ok our player IS lovely but it is also HUGE and it was eating up my whole blog so I have taken it down while we continue to work on making it awesome.

UPDATE MARK 2: Ok let’s see if we’re at awesome yet. Hooray, I think we did it!

After last year’s late-to-the-party love affair with This American Life (which still continues I should add - I would never jilt Ira Glass!), my 2008 paramour is Re:Sound, a radio show presented by the Third Coast Festival on Chicago Public Radio. It’s a collection of radio stories from around the world, stories that “you can’t hear anywhere else, unless you live everywhere else.” I’ve been listening to the podcasts and have discovered some real treasures, fantastic stories, mainly documentary, about everything from a very personal account of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict (The Lemon Tree, June 3 2006), to stories about the mysterious Theremin and the origin of break beat (The Music Show, April 8 2006), to a very funny story about Richard Shepherd’s experience selling The Matador to Harvey Weinstein at Sundance (The Hollywood Show, September 23 2006).

If you love the art of storytelling then have a listen. You’re in for a treat.

I was listening to Daniel Pink’s How Manga Explains the World talk from SXSW (I’m still not quite sure just what Manga explains but it was fascinating to hear details about how unbelievably popular it is in Japan) and he mentioned the new Howard Zinn graphic book A People’s History of American Empire.

Here is an animated video, narrated by Viggo Mortensen, related to an essay Zinn wrote called Empire or Humanity? What the Classroom Didn’t Teach Me About the American Empire:

There are some great narratives and docs screening at the IFFBoston later this month - it’s like a greatest hits list with no doubt a few new gems thrown in. The full list is here but here are some of my picks (my comments in italics):

Narrative Features

AUGUST EVENING (John Cassavetes Award Winner at the Spirt Awards earlier this year) directed by Chris Eska Reminiscent of the works of Ozu, August Evening follows an aging undocumented worker, Jaime, and his young widowed daughter-in-law, Lupe, as their lives are thrown into upheaval.

BALLAST (been hearing great things) directed by Lance Hammer In rural Mississippi, 12-year old James’ descent into drug dealing forces the adult members of his family to confront issues in their mutual pasts. Winner of Best Directing and Best Cinematography Awards at Sundance Film Festival 2008.

THE CAKE EATERS (haven’t seen this but director Masterson was my hero in Some Kind of Wonderful!) directed by Mary Stuart Masterson When a prodigal son returns, two troubled families in a small town are forced to confront their intertwined histories. Directorial Debut by Mary Stuart Masterson. Score by Duncan Sheik

FROWNLAND (intense, difficult, powerful - you should see this) directed by Ronnie Bronstein Critically-acclaimed, absurd, black comedy about a door-to-door coupon salesman, Keith, and the people he encounters in his odd line of work.

GOLIATH (sweet, funny, pure Zellner) directed by David Zellner & Nathan Zellner A man’s marriage crumbles, he is demoted and the worst blow of all, he loses his beloved feline, Goliath.

JETSAM (I met Shooter member Welsford at Slamdance where this was also screening. You can read a Shooters interview with him by James MacGregor) directed by Simon Welsford In this taut British thriller, a young woman washes up on a desolate, icy beach along with a man who intends to harm her. She has no memory of him and desperately attempts to piece together the circumstances that brought her to this place

MISTER LONELY (keep bloody missing this, go see it for me please) directed by Harmony Korine Harmony Korine’s latest film stars Diego Luna as a Michael Jackson impersonator in Paris who is invited by a Marilyn Monroe impersonator (Samantha Morton) to a commune in Scotland run by a Charlie Chaplin imitator.

MOMMA’S MAN (makes grown men cry) directed by Azazel Jacobs A man abandons his wage slave job, his wife and his child to live at home with his mother. Latest film from Azazel Jacobs (THE GOODTIMESKID, IFFBoston 2007).

MY WINNIPEG (I love Guy Maddin. If you love Guy Maddin you will love this film. It’s all Canada, journeys and mothers. “The fork, the lap.“) directed by Guy Maddin Showcasing his signature use of silent and early sound era cinema, this is Director Guy Maddin’s loving tribute to his hometown in Manitoba.

THE NEW YEAR PARADE (again haven’t seen - what have I been doing all year come to think of it? - but heard good things) directed by Tom Quinn A pair of teenage siblings cope with the divorce of their parents in this Altmanesque film.

WOODPECKER (missed this at SXSW but I kept bumping into Karpovsky there and he’s very nice so you should go see this.) directed by Alex Karpovsky In this new film by Alex Karpovsky (THE HOLE STORY, IFFBoston 2005), amateur birder, Johnny Neander pursues the believed extinct, celebrated Ivory-Billed Woodpecker.

Documentary Features

AMERICAN TEEN (great, hyper-produced doc, the ad campaign is all The Breakfast Club but I thought it was also very Pretty in Pink, there’s even a real-life Duckie!) directed by Nanette Burnstein Documentary about the struggles and concerns of the graduating class of Warsaw, Indiana by director of ON THE ROPES and THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE.

DREAMS WITH SHARP TEETH (“I don’t take a piss without getting paid for it!“) directed by Erik Nelson Portrait of outspoken and influential Speculative Fiction writer, Harlan Ellison.

ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (Closing Night Film) (Herzog, Antarctic, I’m there.) directed by Werner Herzog Werner Herzog documents the residents of McMurdo Station on Ross Island, Antarctica during austral summer and the icy depths that surround them.

FRONTRUNNER (Everyone is raving about this one) directed by Virginia Williams Dr. Massouda Jalal wages a courageous campaign as a pacifist and woman in Afghanistan’s first democratic election.

THE GREENING OF SOUTHIE (I’m a fan of King of Corn, which is screening on Independent Lens on April 15th by the way, so am excited to see this.) directed by Ian Cheney Chronicles the epic construction of the Macallen Building, Boston’s first “green” residential structure.

INTIMIDAD (these guys rock and I can’t wait to see this.) directed by David Redmon and Ashley Sabin Filmmakers Ashley Sabin and David Redmon’s (KAMP KATRINA, IFFBoston 2007) revealing documentary about Cecy and Camilo Ramirez, a young couple struggling to make ends meet in Mexico to bring their young daughter to live with them.

LIFE. SUPPORT. MUSIC. (Heard great things about this at True/False. Lots of tears) directed by Eric Metzgar Uplifting account of musician, Jason Crigler’s recovery from a devastating brain hemorrhage with support from family and fellow musicians, Norah Jones and Marshall Crenshaw.

NERDCORE RISING (Enjoyed this at SXSW, geek fun) directed by Negin Farsad Investigates the often-amusing genre of Nerdcore Hip-Hop. Includes interviews with MC Frontalot, artist/producer Prince Paul, Jello Biafra, comedian Brian Posehn, Tycho and Gabe of Penny Arcade, and Weird Al Yankovic.

NOT YOUR TYPICAL BIGFOOT MOVIE (another Shooter!) directed by Jay Delaney Amateur Bigfoot researchers, Wayne and Dallas, share a powerful friendship and aspiration that transcends the reality of living in a fading steel town.

SECRECY (Did you ever see Robb Moss’ The Same River Twice? It’s awesome. This is apparently a very different kind of film but it sounds interesting.) directed by Robb Moss and Peter Galison Compelling doc explores the vast, invisible world of government secrets and our ability to maintain both national security and a functioning democracy.

WE ARE WIZARDS (I heart Brad Neely) directed by Josh Koury Examines the fascinating subculture that is inspired from the Harry Potter phenomenon.

WILD BLUE YONDER (Interested to see what all the fuss is about) directed by Celia Maysles Celia Maysles father, David, died when she was only eight years old. Unaware of his importance, along with his brother Albert, as a pioneering documentarian, she uses his brand of filmmaking to better understand his legacy.

Short Films

GLORY AT SEA (poor guy had a nasty car accident on the way to SXSW - I hope this screening is far more successful for him) directed by Ben Zeitlin A group of survivors construct a boat from the wreckage of New Orleans to find their love ones lost at sea.

LA CORONA (THE CROWN) (This is indeed both gripping and provocative.) directed by Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega Gripping, provocative short doc about an annual beauty pageant held in a Colombian woman’s prison. 2008 Academy Award nominee.

34×25x36 (She’s a Shooter! She’s the NY bulletin Editor! She’s my friend! Hooray!) directed by Jesse Epstein An intimate look at the Patina V Mannequin Factory in Industry City, outside of LA.

I love this video from the BBC - celebrating both April Fools Day and the BBC iPlayer. There is a long tradition of April Fools hoaxes on the BBC, going back to the infamous “Spaghetti Tree” incident of 1957, when it was reported that “Spaghetti is not a widely-eaten food in the UK and is considered by many as an exotic delicacy.”

You can see the “making of” film here.

I’ve been distracted from blogging for the past week by many things. First, I have been writing an article about short film distribution that has been soaking up all my free time and free brain. I love doing these things but I still get the terror every time because there is so much to say and so many different ways to say it.

I went to see Margaret Brown’s probing and beautifully shot The Power of Myths again yesterday at the IFC Center - it was the first night of Thom Powers’ Stranger Than Fiction Spring Season and it was great to see so many familiar faces, especially after my dismal attendance last season due to a crazy travel schedule. I’m really looking forward to seeing Ondi Timoner’s film about cults, Join Us, next week but the film I’m most excited to see again is James Marsh’s The Burger and the King: The Life and Cuisine of Elvis Presley. I saw this on telly in England many years ago and loved it then and have since become a huge Marsh fan after Wisconsin Death Trip and particularly the recent, glorious Man On Wire. I now have a picture of Philippe Petit dancing on the tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center pinned to the wall above my desk to remind me of the awe I felt watching Man on Wire. The human spirit man, it’s an amazing thing.

I have sadly failed to get to any screenings at New Directors/New Films and it looks like tickets for the Sundance Documentary Grand Jury Prize Winner Trouble the Water might be hard to come by. Dammit. Other lucky folk are off to Sarasota and Full Frame neither of which I have ever been to. Next year maybe. I’m not bitter. For now there is a mountain of work to attend to here in New York City and plenty of festival action coming up including HotDocs and Tribeca later this month.

In other news Cynopsis Digital picked us as their website of the day today. Very cool:

Shooting People is a stimulating, nurturing community site built to bring indie filmmakers together. New York and London-based lensers upload their work, solicit advice and share secrets on how to save on production costs or circumnavigate permit restrictions. Because the site is run by filmmakers and charges a modest $40 annual fee to join, it seems to be mostly populated by working professionals – nearly 35,000 of them. Founders Cath Le Couter and Jess Search will celebrate Shooters’ 10 year anniversary in November.

Meanwhile events in the world, yes the world outside film!, have been giving me sleepless nights. I recently read Peter Godwin’s extraordinary books about growing up in (Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa) and then returning to Zimbabwe (When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa) and have been following the elections there as much as is possible given the restricted press access.

And back to the ridiculous: You may have noticed that I have recently succumbed to the microblogging drug that is Twitter so follow me there if you really want to see what I am doing all day long (thinking about cleaning products in WholeFoods was one scintillating post!). Do it. You know you want to.