"The Cove" @ Tokyo International Film Festival

October certainly seems like the month of film festivals. With the always excellent UNHCR refugee film festival out of the way, Tokyoites now have the Tokyo International Film Festival to look forward to. Last year TIFF went eco-friendly: laying out a green carpet, using green energy for screenings, and holding a symposium on environmental issues. Adding on to that, this year, TIFF has started the Green Carpet Club, of which you can become a member:


I'll be away for most the entire duration of the film festival :( but I have one particularly film that I want to encourage you wholeheartedly to see- "The Cove."


While I feel this trailer speaks for itself, I have to say of all the amazing films I have seen recently (Burma VJ, Heart of Jenin, Age of Stupid) this by far trumps them all. 

"The Cove" is an inspirational story about an individual giving everything in order to bring awareness to not only the plight of this dolphin slaughter but the many issues related, such as mercury poisoning and the selling dolphin meat disguised as whale. Ric O'Barry, once the dolphin trainer of the beloved American TV show Flipper, now sees it as his mission to curb the ever expanding dolphin industry.  

While protecting dolphins is not necessarily my number one priority, the shear passion that Ric O'Barry emits is earth-shatteringly inspiring. I was shaking when I had the opportunity to meet him after the screening of the film at the Foreign Correspondent's Press Club in Tokyo.

The screening of the film at TIFF is on Wendesday the 21st at 10:50am. Pre-sale tickets are already sold out but if you line up early ( I would get there by 8, but Im just a film freak) I'm sure you can get a chance to catch this controversial yet well produced and incredibly moving story.

Latest videos from Our World 2.0

Here are my latest videos from Our World 2.0.

Drop me a comment and let me know what you think. 

Plastic to Oil Fantastic!

Plastic to Oil Fantastic from UNUChannel on Vimeo.

The Japanese company Blest has developed one of the smallest and safest oil-to-plastic conversion machines out on the market today. It's founder and CEO, Akinori Ito is passionate about using this machine to change the way people around the world think about their plastic trash. From solving our landfill and garbage disposal issues to reducing our oil dependancy on the Middle East, his machine may one day be in every household across Japan.
While holding up a bag of trash, he states, "It's a waste to throw away, isn't it? This is a treasure."

Read the article:
http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/2009/04/14/plastic-to-oil-fantastic/

The Case of the Diminishing Drift Ice

The Case of the Diminishing Drift Ice from UNUChannel on Vimeo.

The Sea of Okhotsk has long been the southernmost spot in the Northern Hemisphere where polar sea ice is found. After spreading southward out of the Arctic each winter and along the eastern edge of Sakhalin Island, the ice typically arrives in Hokkaido in mid to late January. The best time to see it is the latter half of February but it stays until late March or early April. However, over the past twenty years the drift ice has been slowly diminishing. Some say this is the result of global warming. The people of Abashiri have come together to take action.



To read more about this http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/2009/05/26/tourism-meltdown/

My First OW2.0 Video: Will you eco-marry me?

My first Our World 2.0 story is up on the ourworld hompage. To read the article that goes a long with the article click here. Please visit the website and leave your comments there! Thank you!

Will you eco-marry me? from UNUChannel on Vimeo.

"Tokyo couple Shigeru Komori and Tomoko Hoshino embraced the chance to create a beautiful wedding day without leaving behind a huge environmental footprint. Both of them are passionate about the environment and so practicing their eco-philosophy on their wedding day was a true reflection of who they are and what is important to them."

June 25: Refusenik at the Refugee Film Festival

The schedule for the Refugee Film festival has been announced! The documentary film that I worked on Refusenik will be screened on the 25th of June at the Instituto Cervantes de Tokio at 7:30 pm. I will be speaking in the Q&A after the screening, so please come and support me and this amazing documentary about a people's movement that spanned thirty years to bring freedom to the Soviet Jews. Also let me not forget to mention this screening and all other films as part of the Refugee Film fest is absolutely FREE!

Just to represent this information in easily retainable way:

What: Refusenik
When: Wed, June 25, 2008 at 19:30
How much: FREE!!!
Where: Instituto Cervantes de Tokio
2-9, Rokubancho Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0085
Phone: 03 5210-1800
Directions: Nearest Station: Koujimachi Station. Subway Yurakcho Line
(3 minutes walk from Exit B5 towards Ichigaya)
Other stations: Ichigaya Station. JR Sobu Line, Subway Yurakcho Line, Namboku Line, Shinjuku Line (6 minute walk) Yotsuya Station. JR Chuo Line, JR Sobu Line, Subway Namboku Line, Shinjuku Line (7 minute walk)

There are also some other great films that I am really keen on seeing such as War/Dance, New Year Baby, NKBA Palestine 1984 and many others, so check out the schedule below.




Also, since this entire film festival is a free and open to the public, there will be a fundraiser pre-party at Seco Lounge on the 18th of June.
Refugee Film festival PreParty

Date: June 18th [Wed]

Time: 7pm to 11pm

Place: Seco Lounge, 03-6418-8141
http://www.secobar.jp/cat13/

Price: ¥1500 [does not include drink]

Live: Chaos Theory
Superfunktion
Rhythm Droid
West African performers to be announced

Painting: Amadou Tounkara (Senegal)

Visuals: M.M.M

Come, come, come!! xox

Tokyo: Support the victims of Cyclon Nargis

Two huge natural disasters have rocked our planet earth over the past couple of weeks. With death tolls in the tens to hundreds of thousands, it's easy to feel either overwhelmed and helpless or completely unaffected by something so far away. However, theres is something that we can all do to help. In particular for the victims of Cyclone Nargis in Burma, this weekend in Tokyo, Parties 4 Peace is partnering with Sounds of Sunday Party and organizing an organic vegetarian BBQ this Sunday, May 25th.

The funds raised will go to support Save the Children www.savethechildren.org
Save the Children currently operates programs in all five of the most-affected regions and has worked in Myanmar (Burma) since 1995. As one of the largest nongovernmental organizations at work in Burma, the agency implements programs focused on early childhood care and development, child survival and child protection.

"Our staff in Burma are doing lifesaving work, but we could reach more children and families if we had the supplies that they so desperately need. Indeed, if aid continues to be restricted, the condition for thousands of children will rapidly deteriorate. Alarmingly, food prices have already risen, which means that hunger might become a problem for some families. Public health conditions could also get worse as people live close together in shelters and water supplies remain limited. Without immediate and wide-scale assistance, the situation for children looks likely to get worse before it improves."

今週の日曜日「SOUNDS on SUNDAYS」　＆　パーティーフォーピースKitchen

P4P - Parties 4 Peace & S.O.S
Presents: S.O.S. - Sounds On Sunday

5.25 [SUNDAY]
@ Oath in Shibuya [ 4 pm - 11pm ] 1000 YEN

Techno / Minimal / Electro Beats

FEATURING DJs
Anthony Mansfield (Hector Works - San Francisco)
Groove Patrol [Two Dogs]
Radarboy (Radarpop)

Tazzy [Rhythm Odyssey]
Keisho Kikuchi [Kamui Recordings]
Jasmine Jordan [ABCDGCDB]

BBQ Provided by Alishan Foods & Second Harvest
*all Organic and Vegetarian Foods*
http://www.alishan-organic-center.com
http://www.2hj.org

ACCESS:
Oath in Aoyama
MAP: http://www.aoyama-oath.com/map.html


Come and enjoy some yummy veggie kabob.

(Photo courtesy of Parties 4 Peace)

Report from the Global Article 9 conference!

The Global Article 9 Conference was held at Makuhari Messe (just outside of Tokyo) on May 4-6th. Over 10,000 people turned up for the opening ceremony. 1100 people from Hiroshima, 2500 from Sendai, and 8000 people from Osaka participated in the event locally in their respective cities. There were also 150 people from 40 countries in attendance. In total, there were 30,000 participants over the three days! On the opening day, the main event hall reached its capacity while a line stretched out the door and people had to be turned away. What an amazing turn out. In my peace activism career I have been to many workshops and conferences before but this event by far blew the rest out of the water. WTG Peace Boat!

I unfortunately could not stay for the entire three-day event due to the impending thesis deadline of May 15th. I did try to get some footage of the opening remarks and various workshops which I hope to use in a film I'm planning to make this summer. I'll be updaiting with more clips over the next couple of months now that my graduate studies are winding down.

Here's a short clip of Yoshiyoka Tatsuya, Peace Boat Director, as he opens the conference. (In Japanese) Enjoy!

To give you a quick translation (my first real attempt):

"Welcome to the Article 9 conference. It's amazing to see this many people, in fact there are still many people standing outside waiting. All these people coming here for the Article 9 Conference... this is a truly historic event at this moment in time. As the co-chair for the Global Article 9 conference and of Peace Boat, I am here to give opening remarks. First though I want to respond to that, even at this time, there are many people because of war, conflict, disaster, sickness who are losing their lives. I believe that there are huge numbers of people from World War II and the conflicts before that were lost and as a result, from the desires of not just Japanese people but the victims of all of Asia--from these wars and colonization--that Article 9 was born.

I have met many people from around the world and have spoken to them about Article 9. And every time I speak about the spirit of Article 9, that it will really abolish war, that it will really abolish military... that spirit is in fact a desire of most people in the world. They deeply feel for it and desire it. Particularly, the people who have been affected by conflict like the Palestinians, the Kosovars, Africans or those from East Timor. People around the world want to create a world without war and without military as soon as possible. They truly desire this. Those people from around the world have come to this conference today. Please welcome them..."

(please message me if I've incorrectly translated anything)

Anyways here are some links to English press coverage:

Japan Today (Kyodo): Thousands convene for int'l Article 9 conference
→ http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/thousands-convene...

AP: Thousands rally for Japan constitution
→ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080504/ap_on_re_as/japan_constitution

Japan Times: Nobel Peace Prize winner hits moves to change Article 9
→ http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080505a3.html

Tokyo: Upcoming film festivals

For the globally conscious media junkie, there are a few film festivals coming to Tokyo that you should mark down on your calender.

1. The UNHCR Refugee Film Festival- June 2008 (The website is down at the moment...)
This will be the third year that the UNHCR Refugee film festival will be held in Tokyo. Not only do they showcase great films related to refugee issues around the world, the film festival is entirely free to the public! And on top of that a documentary film I worked on in LA (and that I have blogged about recently) Refusenik has been accepted to be screened. The date of the screening is yet TBD, but I'll be sure to update you on this. So at the very least, don't miss out on this one!

2. Tokyo Peace Film Festival- July 18-20th. This year the TPFF will be screening films such ash Iraq for Sale, American vs. Jon Lennon, and
「六ヶ所村通信」Rokkashoumura Tsushin- a film about Japan's newest nuclear reprocessing plant which has been a hot contested issues among anti-nuclear activist in Japan. I had the pleasure of meeting Kamanaka Hitomi, the director of the film, when she was a guest lecturer on Peace Boat's 53rd global voyage.


3. Artivist Film Festival- November 14-16, 2008
I first came across the Artivist film festival while I was in Los Angeles. The word Artivist came from the merging of Art + Activist, and thus their mission is to "strengthen the voice of the activist artists - 'Artivists' - while raising public awareness for social global causes." This film festival showcases stories on human rights, children's advocacy, environmental preservation and animal rights. My short film Peace Begins with Me and You was screened at their 2006 film festival at the Egyptian theater in Hollywood. I am currently submitting films to the Tokyo debut of this film festival, so wish me luck!

Tokyo: Injured Soldiers Exhibit

This afternoon I took the train to Ebisu to visit the "Injured Soldiers" exhibition at the MA2Gallery. Photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, usually known to photograph celebrities and porn stars, powerfully captured the images of 13 wounded Iraq veterans. This photo exhibit is part of larger documentary for HBO called Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq which examines that lives of the newest generation of veterans.
Hung on the stark white walls of the two-story MA2Gallery, the photographs were accompanied by a booklet describing the personal stories of the veterans. Most of them were in their 20s, younger than me, yet by the expressions upon their face I would have assumed they were at least in their 30s. The photographs are simple portraits with all of the subjects looking directly at the camera. Some seemed proud of their battle wounds, others have seemed to have found new meaning in their life, and others seem lost and defeated. As best put by HBO, these photographs/film "puts a face to some of the many soldiers and Marines who've come back in record numbers suffering from severe injuries and trauma, and who, in many ways, have been hidden from the public's view."

The exhibit will continue until the 30th of April. Once exiting the East exit of Ebisu station, continue straight along the main street on the map provided by the gallery (unlike me who took a 15 minute detour...) and you will eventually get there. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday form 12-7pm.

Images from Article 9 Peace Bike ride.

Despite the continuous torrential down pour on the days leading up to the bike ride, April 19th turned to be a pretty mild day- good enough for bike ride from Shibuya to Yoyogi park in the name of Article 9. The bikers sang songs of peace, handed out fliers and invited passersby to join the Global Article 9 conference.
Here are some video-captured stills from the Article 9 Peace bike ride:

Getting ready for their bike ride at Shibuya station.



Levi, Rob and Taka are decorating their wheels with a custom made heiwa 9 (peace) decorations.

They begin to walk/ride through the streets of Shibuya.


Shirine and Rob pass out the Global Article 9 conference flyers to pedestrians.


Jen, Levi and Jamie bike towards the Earth Day Festival at Yoyogi Park.



Next Article 9 event is :

Salsa to the Beat of 9, April 26th

Thanks to Article 9, we CAN dance salsa in peace!

Salsa to the Beat of 9
April 26th, 7pm-11pm
Cuban Cafe, 〒104-0045　東京都中央区築地5-6 10浜離宮パークサイドプレイス１F
http://www.geocities.co.jp/cubancafe2005/
Contact: Jennifer at jteeterpeaceboat.gr.jp for more details:)

Tokyo: Countdown to the Global Article 9 Conference

We are a few weeks away from the Global Article 9 conference (May 4-6). In the lead up to it, many activities are taking place in Tokyo and the surrounding areas.

On Saturday April 19th, Peace Boat is organizing a peace bike ride for Article 9. The bike ride begins at 11am at Hachiko exit at Shibuya and participants will ride to the Earth Day festivities at Yoyogi Park.

Event:	Peace Bike Ride for A9
Tagline:	"Join us for a day of cycling to support A9, the peace constitution"
Host:	Peace Boat

Time and Place

Date:	Saturday, April 19, 2008
Time:	11:00am - 2:00pm
Location:	Shibuya, Tokyo
Street:	Hachiko exit, Shibuya eki
City/Town:	Tokyo, Japan

Peace Walk for Article 9
Also, since the end of February, several hardcore peace activists have been walking from Hiroshima towards Tokyo, aiming to arrive on the first day of the conference. You can read up more about them and their Peace Walk here. I am hoping to join them at some point and film some of their activities as well, all pending on the progress of my thesis.

Tokyo: International Symposium on the Media's Role in Historical Reconciliation

This Saturday, April 5th, there will be a symposium on the Media's role in Historical Reconciliation at the Goeth Institute in Akasaka, Tokyo. The details on the Goeth Institute website is in German, but I was forwarded the email in English last week. Sorry for not posting earlier.
Particularly I am interested in the second panel discussion on whether journalists can be peacemakers? This is a question that came up during my peace journalism course at Transcend University. Also, Hans-Robert Eisenhauer, the producer of the documentary Why We Fight (2005) will be in attendance. I had the pleasure of attending a screening of this film in LA with the director Eugene Jarecki present. The film is about the US military-industrial-complex and it is on my must-see list.

Details:

International Symposium

Peacemakers or Powder Monkeys – the Role of the Media in Post-WWII History Debates in Europe and Northeast Asia

Date and time: April 5, 2008, 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m

Place: Goethe-Institut Japan, 7-5-56 Akasaka, Minato-ku. Tokyo 107- 0052
Co-organized by: -- Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Tokyo Office (FES)

-- International Center for the Study of Historical Reconciliation at Tokyo Keizai University (TKU)
-- Goethe-Institut Japan in Tokyo

In recent months, the long shadow of World War II seems for a time to have lifted from the map of East Asia. New leaders in China, Korea and Japan are making efforts to put a difficult past behind them. But is this the beginning of a permanent reconciliation or just a lull in an ongoing war of words? This month, a dispute over contaminated dumplings imported from China unleashed a torrent of such unrelentingly critical coverage in the Japanese media that an official visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao had to be postponed. The US Marine Corps dictionary defines a powder monkey as one who carries explosives to gun crews on a battleship. Reporters everywhere have plied their trade by stoking the fires of nationalism. But is the media also not capable of promoting peace? Japanese, Chinese, and Korean reporters have been meeting for years in attempts to confront the past. In Europe, ARTE TV funded jointly by French and German tax-payers, beams programs on public affairs and the arts, simultaneously in two languages. Might a similar multi-lingual network be established in Asia one day? Or should we pin our hopes on the Internet to forge shared perceptions of past and future?

Keynote speakers:

Hans-Robert Eisenhauer, ZDF; former deputy chief of programming ARTE

Yoshibumi Wakamiya, chief editorial writer, Asahi Shimbun;

Panelists:

Tetsuya Chikushi; host of TBS nightly news hour

Chung Ku-Chong; President, Donga.com, Seoul

William Horsley; former BBC bureau chief, Tokyo, Bonn

Yasushi Kudo; founder Genron NPO, coordinator of annual China-Japan media meetings

Park Cheol-Hee; professor, political science, Seoul National University

Program

10:00 – 10:15 Registration and Greetings

Markus WERNHARD, Head of Arts, Goethe-Institut Tokyo

Andrew HORVAT, Visiting Professor, Tokyo Keizai University

TBA Japan Representative, Friedrich Ebert Foundation

10:15 – 12:00 Roundtable: The Internet: Bridge or Barrier to Forging a Shared Vision of the Past in Northeast Asia

Dr Chung Kuchong, President, Donga.com,

Iris Georlette, Japan correspondent, Ha'aretz

12:00 – 13:00 lunch break

13:00 – 14:45 Panel 1: The Art of ARTE – Telling the Same Story to Two Audiences

　　　

Speaker: Hans-Robert Eisenhauer, ZDF; former deputy chief of programming at the joint French-German TV network ARTE; producer; “Why We Fight,” winner of prize for best documentary at Sundance Film Festival 2005

Panelists:

Tetsuya Chikushi; host, TBS nightly news hour

William Horsley; formerly BBC bureau chief, Tokyo, Bonn

14:45 – 15:15 Coffee Break

15:15 – 17:00 Panel 2: Can Journalists be Peacemakers?　

Speaker: Yoshibumi Wakamiya, chief editorial writer, the Asahi Shimbun; author of The Postwar Conservative View of Asia: How
the Political Right has Delayed Japan's Coming to Terms With its
History of Aggression in Asia

Panelists:

Yasushi Kudo; founder and head, Genron NPO

Park Cheol-Hee; professor, political science, Seoul National University

17:00 – 17:30 　 Free discussion

17:30 Buffet reception

Simultaneous English-Japanese translation available;
Admission is free but participants are kindly requested to register in advance using the reply form sent as separate attachment.