Global Media Forum - June 3-5, 2009

While I have yet to make it to a conference that addresses the media's role in peace (they seem to get canceled a lot), the Global Media Forum is one I'm hoping to attend. It's main objective is to examine how new media technology (hello my thesis!!) can aid in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.

In their first conference (2008) they addressed the following questions:
What is the relation between the media and violent conflict? Do the media have a responsibility to prevent the outbreak of violence? Moreover, can they contribute to peace-building activities? And if so: how?

Here's a video from last year's conference:

This years follow up conference will be held from June 3-5th in Bonn, Germany.
Taking a look through their website and their lineup of talks, it's clear that they are aware of how these new medias- Youtube, blogging, and social networking- are changing the face of not only traditional media but its outreach to newer audiences.

Out of the questions/issues that this conference aims to address these are the following that particularly interest me:
• Do the changes in technology and user profiles influence the way in which the media report on conflicts – or do they directly influence the way in which a war is fought?
• What about the impact on peace-building processes and conflict-prevention strategies?
• What are the main challenges for the international media during this technological revolution?
• How have the expectations of viewers, listeners and users changed, and what is the best way to reach them in the digital age?
• The multimedia revolution and its impact on conventional media YouTube & Co.: Generating new audiences or excluding even more people?
• Blogging for peace or hate as a way to bypass censorship?

I hope that this conference will prove to be an opportunity to learn in greater detail from those already working in this field of how both content and the way it is served can reach the largest amount of individuals and have the greatest impact possible.

Hometown Baghdad on the Sundance Channel this Thursday night

Hometown Baghdad, the web-based documentary series that I wrote my thesis on, will be making its debut on the Sundance Channel on Thursday March 19 at 11:30pm. It's airing coincides with an important date--the 6th anniversary of the war in Iraq. Let's take this opportunity to re-reflect on the costs of war. For international viewers, look for it listed on the National Geographic International channel. I hope to catch it there!

From Chat the Planet's email blast:
"Hometown Baghdad follows three Iraqi college students based in Baghdad as they try to maintain a semblance of normal existence amidst the escalating violence and chaos around them. The online version of Hometown Baghdad drew over 3 million viewers worldwide when it launched in March 2007. The series won three 2008 Webby Awards, and in the categories News and Politics Series, Public Service and Activism, and Reality. In an article about the online series for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, pop culture critic Cary Darling wrote that the series' scenes of ordinary lives "offer a glimpse into a society few knew existed: young Iraqis who are clinging to a global, middle-class identity while the world around them crumbles into chaos."

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."

Up sleeve number two

I apologize for this much overdue entry, as I have certainly been busy for the past month and half. After returning from Australia and successfully producing the Associated Press story about the Hibakusha Peace Boat voyage, I was offered a short-term contract position working for the United Nations University Media Studio. So for the past few weeks, I have been producing short six-minute documentaries for a webmagazine called Our World2.0.

The web magazine and documentaries focus on solutions to our global issues, with an emphasis on oil scarcity, alternative energy, and food security. So far the stories that I have been working on have been about how the diminishing drift-ice in the Okhotsk sea is affecting tourism in Hokkaido, how one couple planned an eco-wedding, and a machine that converts our plastic waste back into oil. As these stories go up online, I'll be posting the links here as well. Check it out when you get a chance.

Up sleeve number one (as promised in my previous entry)

As this message posts, I will be onboard a plane to Sydney, Australia. I'm headed there to do a freelance video report for Associated Press. The topic of the five minute video for AP's Horizons programming is on the current Peace Boat voyage in which 102 atomic bomb survivors share their anti-nuclear testimonies as they travel around the world. What an incredible journey they must be having as they connect with locals in 20 plus countries. It's a story that is much needed to be documented and shared with as many people as possible--as for some of the hibakusha this may be their last chance to share their story.

I'm excited and nervous at the same time. Nervous about my continual push to challenge myself as a storyteller, to meet AP standards, and to handle all the technical aspects of this shoot. Excited to be going to Australia (a first for me!), to meet with the Hibakusha and tell their story as best as I can. I hope that this will be first of many experiences like this in my lifetime. Wish me luck and see you back in Tokyo on the 8th!

(photo credit: Peace Boat)

Goodbye Providence, Hello Japan for now

My time in Providence is coming to an end. I haven't been as active blogging or involved in local peace activities as I would have liked but my life here has seemed to have taken its own course. As my first foray into doing more commercial work, I have to say that I have enjoyed it immensely. I don't know when I turned away from looking (or if I ever considered) working in the narrative storytelling side of this industry but the four months on this job has given me a greater appreciation for the talent, artistry and care that goes into producing what some might consider "fluff."

When I haven't been jaunting off to New York on the weekends, I've been traveling to New Hampshire. Swing-state New Hampshire that chose John McCain over GW Bush in the 2000 primaries. The New Hampshire that preferred Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama in 2008 primaries. My friends and I have knocked on hundreds of doors, talking to locals about a much needed change in the white house, in America and in the world. And while it was my nerves that kept me up on the night of the 3rd, it was excitement of all the possibilities that kept me up on the 4th. I cannot express with enough eloquence what I believe Obama means to history and to what we all know is possible in our hearts for a better world. I also know that while he can be a great catalyst, he cannot single-handedly change the world. Each and everyone of us, regardless of our citizenship, has a chance to participate in fulfilling our true potential. I look forward to what the next eight years bring.

So I have a few things up my sleeves as I jump on a plane back to Japan. For several of them, it's still too early to post here (and I'm very excited for when I do) but I can share that my short film Peace Begins with Me and You will be at the Artivist film festival in Tokyo, Japan on Dec 12th. Here's the event link of FB. More details to come but here's a good start:

Artivist Film Festival Tokyo ・ アーティビスト映画祭 in 東京

Japanese premieres of 13 amazing short and feature films from around the world.

Friday, Dec. 12th at 7 P.M.
Saturday, Dec. 13th at 7 P.M.
Sunday, Dec. 14th All Day - 11 A.M. to 9 P.M.

12月12日（金）、19:00〜21:00
12月13日（土）、19:00〜21:00
12月14日（日）、11:00〜21:00

Detailed programming schedule to come.
プログラムはまもなく決定します。

Admission is FREE! Arrive early for good seats.

"ARTIVIST" is the only international Film Festival dedicated to raising awareness for the interdependence between Humanity, Animals, and the Environment. Since 2004, Artivist has screened more than 300 international films and has reached more than 25 Million People with its Public Relations Campaigns. Merging Art & Advocacy for Global Consciousness is our Mission. Artivist is a Charitable Organization endorsed by the UNITED NATIONS and the International NOBEL PRIZE.

「アーティビスト国際映画祭」は、人権・子供の 権利・動物の権利・環境保護への社会意識を高めることを目的とした初の映画祭で、今年で5周年をむかえます。2004年より通算2500万人以上に300 本以上の映画を紹介してきました。本映画祭の使命は、地球規模の問題への社会意識を高める一方で、国際的に活躍するアーティスト兼活動家（アクティビス ト）＝「アーティビスト」達の声を高めることです。アーティビストは、国連とノーベル平和賞からも支持を得る非営利団体です。

This year's films making Japanese premieres include:

One Water
They Turned Our Desert Into Water
Zeitgeist Addendum
Stolen Childhoods
Tibet: Beyond Fear
& many more

Map: http://tokio.cervantes.es/es/donde_esta_instituto_cervantes.htm

アクセス： http://tokio.cervantes.es/jp/microsite/mapa.htm

Poem by Hafiz

My mother recently forwarded me this poem by Hafiz. I feel this poem encapsulates what I feel is true for my own life.

I have come into this world to see this:
the sword drop from men's hands even at the height
of their arc of anger
because we have finally realized there is just one flesh to wound
and it is His - the Christ's, our
Beloved's.

I have come into this world to see this: all creatures hold hands as
we pass through this miraculous existence we share on the way
to even a greater being of soul,
a being of just ecstatic light, forever entwined and at play
with Him.

I have come into this world to hear this:
every song the earth has sung since it was conceived in
the Divine's womb and began spinning from
His wish,

every song by wing and fin and hoof,
every song by hill and field and tree and woman and child,
every song of stream and rock,

every song of tool and lyre and flute,
every song of gold and emerald
and fire,

every song the heart should cry with magnificent dignity
to know itself as
God:
for all other knowledge will leave us again in want and aching -
only imbibing the glorious Sun
will complete us.

I have come into this world to experience this:
men so true to love
they would rather die before speaking
an unkind
word,
men so true their lives are His covenant -
the promise of
hope.

I have come into this world to see this:
the sword drop from men's hands
even at the height of
their arc of
rage
because we have finally realized
there is just one flesh
we can wound.

--Hafiz