Schatten auf Berlin- a dropping knowledge initiative

One of the projects that I have been working on at Dropping Knowledge is Schatten auf Berlin- The Shadows of Berlin. It is a multi-media web magazine looking at the social issues of Berlin: from alcoholism, prostitution, to delinquent youth, and the homeless. The project is based on a series of ethnography studies conducted by Hans Oswald in the late 1800's. dk compares the many issues of Berlin of that time to Berlin in 2007.

This Sunday, September 23rd, the website will go live. Along with it, here in Berlin, there will be an evening film screening and discussion event with doors open at 9pm at the Kino Babylon.

Though I have not been able to participate much in this project due to my lack of German, in the last two weeks I have been able to pull together a short film for their New Berlin category. The four minute film I made asks the question: What does it mean to be Jewish in Berlin today?

The reason why I sought to answer this question was because that I had read a statistic which said that there was a growing number of Jews moving (back) to Berlin. Why have they come back to Berlin? Why Berlin and not some other German city? and finally What does it mean to be Jewish here and now?

Anyways, I am very happy that I was able to contribute to this project and produced a short film while I was here with Dropping Knowledge.

60 Seconds of Light

This video is part of the 60 Seconds of Light internet memorial.

"60 SECONDS OF LIGHT is an attempt to create an internet-wide September 11th video memorial. The concept is simple: on September 11th 2007 we are asking all vloggers and internet video content creators to take a break from their regular scheduled content and instead upload 60 seconds of light. A candle burning. A lighter lit. A glow stick glowing. Anything light-filled that you feel honors the memory of all those who were lost. Our hope is to have this light spread throughout the internet; creating the largest memorial service ever to commemorate September 11th."

So if you have a web camera, will you consider joining me and other bloggers in a minute of silence and light to honor the people who lost their lives six years ago today?

May our light shine peace on to this world.

Getting focused on my thesis

Hi, so the time has come for me to get serious about my thesis. At the end of the last school year, I had narrowed my interests down to three areas:

1. The Buddhist practice of compassionate listening- After my trip to Vietnam and writing two papers on Buddhism and its relationship to peace, I have fallen deeply in love with the philosophy/religion. While, I don't think I will ever call myself a Buddhist, I do believe that Buddhism offers much wisdom for creating peace in oneself and with the world.
So my thesis idea was to look at the practice of compassionate listening and see the value of it as a conflict resolution tool. There is a Seattle based organization, the Compassionate Listening Project that is doing this work and in particular in Israel/Palestine. My research idea on this was to asses the effectiveness of this practice as a conflict resolution tool.

2. Article 9. I am planning to make a film on the peace movement to protect Article 9 anyways, so why not write a thesis on it? This way for the next year I can be one-pointed focused. However, how would I do this? What angle would my thesis take? I have to be honest I'm not interested in writing about the possible geo-political implications if Article 9 is revoked. I am just not political minded enough to do such a paper. I also am far more passionate about the people, and why or why not they care about Article 9.

3. Media and Peace. Now this obviously makes the most sense. This is what I am trying to do with my life. But once again how do you write a thesis on this? One idea I have is to do a case study on organizations that do media trainings in developing countries. One such organization is called Barefoot Workshops. They train youth and women in video skills in Africa focusing on:

• Empower youth through media, music and the arts
• Bridge communities together to address global issues
• Inspire individuals and communities to transform themselves from within
• Innovate new uses of media to meet development goals internationally (Source: Barefootworkshops.org)
  

Assessing the impact that such a workshop has, is do able and would mean traveling to Africa which is just not a bad idea. An upcoming workshop that I would potentially be interested in participating in is in Jan 2008 in South Africa. My only hesitation with this is that I don't necessarily see this as my path and how I will be doing most of my work in the future. However, maybe it is a good place to start and will open doors to new ideas on how media can help create a culture of peace.

Anyways, if you have a suggestions please send me a mail or leave a comment! All help is very much needed and appreciated!

Headed to Cambodia

Cambodia! Wow, what an incredible gift from the universe. I have been invited by the Rotary Center for Peace and Conflict in Thailand, to make a promotional documentary about their program.

When I was in Vietnam earlier this year, I thought of taking a few days to go to Cambodia since I wanted to learn more about the Killing Fields and visit Angkor Wat but now I am blessed with a full ten days packed with meeting NGOs, visiting museums, and seeing how Cambodians have dealt with restoring peace to their country. I find educational tours far more interesting then any tourist trip.

I am leaving Berlin on August 8th and will return on the 21st. I will be bringing my video camera only, so no slide show upon my return but hopefully with a month or two I will have a film to show you. I'm excited for the opportunity to make a film in such a beautiful country and to push my skills even further.

love,
Megu

The fun of promotion

So part of the work that I am doing at Dropping Knowledge is creating awareness about the great work that they do. ie. promotion/marketing.

This is incredibly important not just for DK but for me to learn as well because I tend to slack on this. I do send out my films to festivals but it takes a concerted effort to be on top of it all. I often miss deadlines by just a few weeks and that is incredibly frustrating. However my research on gorilla marketing has motivated me very much to take the time after work to do my own projects and have a greater presence online.

My myspace friend Yaron has started a youtube like video sharing space called Peace TV.



I will be posting videos on my Peace TV Channel, as well as on Youtube.

As you can see, I have also added little Stumble Upon, Delicious and other icons. (well I'm in the process of adding them) If you read a blog that you like, it would be great if you could click on one of them or all of them. Basically, this allows my presence on the web to grow. I personally think that the more people know about different peace initiatives/projects/orgs that I come across the better it is for everyone. Anyways, I hope you think so to.
So click away!

love and peace,
Megumi

ps. Everyday, I am continually astonished at the growing rate of internet technology. It's a little scary about how much time we spend at the computer. What does the future hold?

Getting deeper into Dropping Knowledge

Hi, I've been spending the past few days digging deeper into the wealth of knowledge that DK provides. I really think that this is great resource for any of us who are committed to making the world a better place.
I'm posting some of the videos available on youtube that I particularly resonated with:
This one is with Julia Butterfly Hill


What does DK have the power to do? Inspire people. It definitely inspires me.


I think this video asks some good questions, esp. pertinent to what I am trying to figure out in my life's work



DK also just came off their latest project. The G8 Summercamp.

I have arrived in Berlin!

Hello,

I have arrived in Berlin to work for Dropping Knowledge for the next two/three months. I'm not sure what I will be doing for them as of yet but I hope it will be a good experience in which I can use my film/video/graphic skills, improve up on them, and making meaningful media on social issues.

For the past three days, I have been wandering the streets of Mitte in East Berlin. Berlin is such a sprawling city, I have yet to see much of it but I'm excited to explore its many intricacies in the upcoming months. As always I'll be keeping ideas on peace and conflict in mind.

There are two things that I am most eager to explore in particular while I am here and they are based on the observations that I made when I came to Berlin in 2001.

1. Art- Berlin is an explosion of expression. Every corner is a gallery, a design showroom, or some event space that leaves your eyes and ears tingling.

2. Rememberence- You cannot walk through this city with out being reminded of the atrocities that happened here, first with the Nazis and second with the Berlin Wall. Today, the city proclaims loudly, "Such horrors happened here. We will not forget and we will never ever let it happen again."

Please check my flickr photos for updates, as well as enjoy the slideshow below.

Tschuss!
Megumi