DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Opinion: Literary protest against the war in Gaza has gone off the rails
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-12 | by ( Opinion Ilene Prusher | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Ilene Prusher Jordana MillerBut something about this year’s Jerusalem International Writers Festival, which was held late last month, was off. The festival’s artistic director, Julia Fermentto-Tzaisler, thought about whether the beloved book festival should happen this year at all. A shadow over the literary worldExamples abound of how fallout from the ongoing war is casting a shadow over the literary world. To be sure, these are not the only cancelations the literary world has experienced related to the war; nor are Jewish writers the only ones who have faced controversy. From the start of this war, it seems I’m much more therapist than writer,” she read in a lilting Hebrew.

Persons: Prusher Jordana Miller, Julia Fermentto, —, ”, Baillie Gifford, Suzanne Nossel, “, Nicholas Kristof, Miriam Libicki, they’re, Sir Simon Schama —, Benjamin Netanyahu, ’, John Irving, Covid, Tzaisler, Harry Potter, Noya Dan, Eshkol Nevo, I’m Organizations: Florida Atlantic University, CNN, Jerusalem CNN, Writers, PEN America, PEN, AP, New York Times, Jerusalem Writers, soccer, European Championship, Columbia University, Hay Locations: Jerusalem, Gaza, Israel, Hay, Wye, Wales, Vancouver, Scotland, Europe, British, Iraq, Iraqi

☆ Margot Benacerraf, Award-Winning Venezuelan Documentarian, Dies at 97
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-03 | by ( Alex Williams | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Margot Benacerraf, a critically acclaimed Venezuelan documentary filmmaker whose hypnotic “Araya,” a visual tone poem chronicling the daily lives of salt workers on an austere peninsula on her country’s coast, shared the critics’ prize at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, died on Wednesday in Caracas. Her death was announced by the country’s culture minister. Hailed as a major figure of Latin American cinema, Ms. Benacerraf founded Venezuela’s national cinematheque and in 2018 was given the Order of Francisco de Miranda, honoring outstanding merit in the sciences and humanities, by the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro. But although Ms. Benacerraf was celebrated, she was not prolific. She made only two films in her career: “Reverón” (1952), a 23-minute documentary short about the reclusive later years of the Venezuelan artist Armando Reverón, and “Araya,” her sole feature-length work.

Persons: Margot Benacerraf, Araya, ”, Benacerraf, Francisco de Miranda, Nicolás, “, Armando Reverón, “ Araya Organizations: Venezuela’s, cinematheque Locations: Venezuelan, Caracas

☆ Morgan Spurlock, Documentarian Known for ‘Super Size Me,’ Dies at 53
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Remy Tumin | More About Remy Tumin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Morgan Spurlock, a documentary filmmaker best known for the Oscar-nominated 2004 film “Super Size Me,” which followed him as he ate nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days, died on Thursday. His brother Craig Spurlock confirmed the death in a statement to The Associated Press, and said the cause was complications from cancer. The statement did not say where he died. In “Super Size Me,” Mr. Spurlock tested the broadly held idea that fast food is unhealthy by gorging on McDonald’s Super Size meals, hamburgers, fries, soda and more for weeks, as he steadily gained weight. The film, which grossed more than $22 million on a $65,000 budget, contributed to a sweeping backlash against the fast food industry.

Persons: Morgan Spurlock, Oscar, Craig Spurlock, Mr, Spurlock Organizations: Associated Press

☆ Morgan Spurlock, Oscar-winning documentarian, dead at 53
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Tom Page | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Morgan Spurlock, the filmmaker and former CNN series host whose McDonald’s documentary “Super Size Me” was nominated for an Academy Award, died of cancer complications Thursday, according to his family. Spurlock, who was 53, died in New York, surrounded by family and friends, his brother said in a statement. “It was a sad day, as we said goodbye to my brother Morgan,” Craig Spurlock said. For several years, Spurlock served as host of a popular CNN Original series, “Morgan Spurlock Inside Man.”Born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, the future filmmaker was raised in Beckley, where he graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School. His film “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken” was released in 2019.

Persons: CNN — Morgan Spurlock, ”, Spurlock, Morgan, ” Craig Spurlock, “ Morgan, ” Spurlock’s, Osama bin Laden, Homer Simpson, “ Morgan Spurlock, Osama Bin Laden, “ I’ve Organizations: CNN, Woodrow Wilson High School, New York University, Sundance Film, Writers Guild of America, Hulu Locations: New York, McDonald’s, Parkersburg , West Virginia, Beckley, York

☆ Terry Carter, Barrier-Breaking Actor and Documentarian, Dies at 95
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Robert D. Mcfadden | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

His death was confirmed by his son, Miguel Carter DeCoste. Mr. Carter was raised in a bilingual home next door to a synagogue in a predominantly Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn. In his first stage role, at 9, Mr. Carter played the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama on a voyage of discovery. It was not him but a much younger Terry Carter who had died in a hit-and-run accident in Los Angeles by a pickup truck driven by the rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight. Slightly misquoting Mark Twain, Mr. Carter posted on social media: “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

Persons: Terry Carter, Duke Ellington, Katherine Dunham, Miguel Carter DeCoste, Carter, Cecil Taylor, Vasco da Gama, Marion “ Suge, Mark Twain Locations: Midtown Manhattan, Italian, Brooklyn, Portuguese, China, Europe, Los Angeles

☆ Eleanor Coppola, artist and matriarch of filmmaking dynasty, dead at 87
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Dan Heching | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Eleanor Coppola, award-winning film documentarian, artist, writer and wife of Francis Ford Coppola, has died. Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola were married for 61 years, with Eleanor accompanying her husband on many of his film shoots throughout his illustrious career. In addition to her pursuits in filmmaking, Eleanor Coppola was an accomplished artist and writer. Her children Roman Coppola (writer and producer on several Wes Anderson films) and Sofia Coppola (“The Virgin Suicides,” “Lost in Translation”) are both successful filmmakers. Shortly before her death, Eleanor Coppola completed her third book, a memoir.

Persons: Eleanor Coppola, documentarian, Francis Ford Coppola, Francis Ford, Nesma Youssef, Eleanor, Francis Ford Coppola’s, Youssef, Sofia Coppola’s, Marie Antoinette, ”, Roman Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Ron Galella, Diane Lane, “, Wes Anderson, Nicolas Cage, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Coppola Organizations: CNN, America, Tribeca Film, Deauville American Film Locations: Rutherford , California, Beverly Hills , California, France, Hollywood

☆ ‘The Program’ takes a deeply personal look at the ‘troubled-teen’ industry
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A deeply personal advocacy piece, “The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping” becomes messy at times over its three chapters, although in a way, that’s part of its power. Kubler assembles a group of others who were sent away, mostly at the age of 15 or 16, to The Academy at Ivy Ridge, a disciplinary facility in New York state near the Canadian border. The Academy at Ivy Ridge survivors in "The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping." Kubler stresses throughout that she’s not a journalist, but rather someone seeking answers to what happened then, shining a light on the emotional scars suffered by Ivy Ridge survivors. “The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping” premieres March 5 on Netflix.

Persons: Katherine Kubler, ”, Kubler, Ivy, “, Phil Elberg, There’s Organizations: CNN, Netflix, The Academy, Ivy Ridge, Academy, Ivy Locations: Ivy, New York

☆ A photographer’s fantastical portrait of rural China during Lunar New Year
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-11 | by ( Oscar Holland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —In photographer Zhang Xiao’s images of the Shehuo festival, an ancient celebration still observed in parts of northern China during the Lunar New Year, rural life comes alive with something altogether more fantastical. (Lunar New Year celebrations usually last more than two weeks, with Shehuo festival taking place on the season’s 15th and final day.) “In some villages, virtually the entire population has been mobilized to produce and sell Shehuo props,” the photographer writes in his book. Shehuo performers reenact a battle between China's Eighth Route Army and Japanese forces from the Second Sino-Japanese War. “People are not focused on how to improve product quality and craftsmanship,” said the photographer, who is currently working on a documentary about life in rural China.

Persons: Zhang Xiao’s, ” Zhang, “, …, ”, Zhang Xiao, —, Zhang, Zhang Xiao “, — Zhang, reenact Organizations: CNN, roosters, dreamworld, UNESCO, Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Eighth Route Army, Aperture, Peabody Museum Press, Peabody Museum of Archaeology, Ethnology Locations: China, Huanghuayu, Shaanxi, Henan, Huozhuang, Henan province, China’s Shandong, Chengdu, Cambridge , Massachusetts

☆ From Ballet to Blackjack, a Dance Pioneer’s Amazing Odyssey
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Siobhan Burke | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Pictured in a publicity shot for the original production of “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker,” in the role known as Tea, was a young Asian dancer identified as George Li. For Lin, a veteran newspaper reporter turned documentarian, the picture raised intriguing questions. In 1954, when the photo was taken, it was rare to see dancers of color on the stage of New York City Ballet, the company Balanchine co-founded. Who was this young man, this breaker of racial barriers, this pioneer? And if so, what was he up to?

Persons: George Lee, he’s, Lee, Jennifer Lin, George Balanchine’s, George Li, Lin, Balanchine Organizations: Four Queens, New York Public Library, Performing Arts, New York City Ballet Locations: Las Vegas, Casino, New

☆ John Pilger, Crusading Journalist and Documentarian, Dies at 84
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

John Pilger, a muckraking foreign correspondent and documentarian who trained his often righteous anger on injustices around the globe, like the Khmer Rouge’s genocide in Cambodia and human rights abuses in East Timor, died on Dec. 30 in London. His son, Sam, said the cause of death, in a hospital, was pulmonary fibrosis. A tireless critic of Western imperialism and a voice for the voiceless, Mr. Pilger was comfortable with his role as a journalistic provocateur. He once derided impartiality as “a euphemism for the consensual view of established authority.”But he was sometimes criticized for shaping his reporting to fit his leftist worldview — that United States foreign policy had often helped cause misery around the world. Mr. Pilger (pronounced PILL-jer), with blond surfer looks, was among the first journalists to enter Cambodia after Vietnam drove out Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge in 1979, ending its nearly four-year reign of terror during which about two million people died.

Persons: John Pilger, documentarian, Sam, Pilger, Pol Locations: Cambodia, East Timor, London, States, Vietnam, Rouge

☆ The brilliantly bizarre world of ‘Candy, Andy and the Bearandas’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-09 | by ( Zoe Whitfield | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —To immerse yourself in the pages of new book “Candy, Andy & The Bearandas” is to delve into a surreal world that riffs on the peculiar while invoking the familiar. Alan Dein/Anderson Entertainment/Courtesy Four Corners Books“It’s very strange, dad never once mentioned ‘Candy’,” Jamie Anderson, the creator’s son, told CNN in an interview. But it was only after he died (in 2012), somebody sent me an eBay listing (of a “Candy” comic) and said, ‘did you know this is one of your dad’s as well?’. “They look like a parody in a way, when you (compare) ‘Candy and Andy’ and ‘Thunderbirds,’ you can scarcely believe they were by the same company.”Some scenes feature the Candy and Andy mannequins with real people. Alan Dein/Anderson Entertainment/Courtesy Four Corners BooksIndeed, the two are worlds apart.

Persons: Candy, Andy, Richard Embray, ”, ” —, Gerry Anderson, Scarlet ”, Candy ”, Scarlet, Alan Dein, Candy ’, ” Jamie Anderson, “, ‘, Doug Luke, Roger Perry, documentarian Alan Dein, ‘ Candy, Andy ’, Gerry Anderson's, Dein, Jamie Anderson, Jamie, Alan, Tracy family’s, Andy ” —, —, Anderson, Jake, Dinos Chapman, Jeff Koons, “ It’s Organizations: CNN, Anderson, eBay, Four, ‘ Thunderbirds, Harrods, Barbican Locations: British, Dein

☆ This video of David Attenborough narrating a programmer's life shows Hollywood actors were right to be afraid of AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Kai Xiang Teo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A programmer has created an AI version of David Attenborough to narrate his life. AdvertisementIf you've ever wanted acclaimed broadcaster and documentary filmmaker Sir David Attenborough to narrate your life, you're not alone — and you don't have to keep merely wishing for it anymore. He's been posting quirky experiments with AI on X — like one that uses AI to recommend how you should correct your posture. And it's made possible by combining OpenAI's GPT-4-vision — an AI model that can describe what it sees — and code from Elevens Lab, an AI voice startup. One X user wrote, "I'm going to get David Attenborough to narrate videos of my baby learning how to eat broccoli."

Persons: David Attenborough, Salma Hayek —, —, you've, Sir David Attenborough, Charlie Holtz, Holtz, Attenborough, @charliebholtz, Salma Hayek, Annie Murphy —, it's, Justine Bateman, Bateman Organizations: Service, Elevens Lab, Hollywood, Actors

☆ Ken Burns Turns His Camera on America’s Beleaguered Buffalo
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Emily Bobrow | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ken Burns says he has been thinking about the American buffalo all of his life: “It may be the most important mammal in the history of the United States.” He explains that this “magnificent” yet beleaguered animal, which roamed the Great Plains in the tens of millions less than 200 years ago, has often stalked the background of his films—figuratively and literally—during his career as a documentarian of Americana. “The buffalo intersects with all these interesting parts of American history,” he says, which is why he’s been plotting a project about its fate for nearly 40 years. But he’s glad that he waited. Time, he says, has helped him to better understand the nuances of what he calls an “epic American calamity.”

Persons: Ken Burns, ”, he’s Locations: United States

☆ Ken Burns would like you to know he doesn't hang out with Clarence Thomas
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Taylor Berman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A new ProPublica story features a photo of filmmaker Ken Buns with Clarence Thomas and David Koch. But Burns released a statement making it clear he doesn't know Thomas. But more shocking to many was the lead photo, which featured star PBS documentarian Ken Burns sandwiched between Thomas and David Koch. Other than the taking of that photograph and innocuous pleasantries, that's the extent of his contact with Justice Thomas." So now we know: Ken Burns and Clarence Thomas are not pals, according to Burns.

Persons: Ken, Clarence Thomas, David Koch, Koch, Burns, Thomas, ProPublica, Ken Burns, he's, Justice Thomas Organizations: Service, PBS, Yorker, Supreme, Hollywood Locations: Wall, Silicon, Vietnam

TORONTO (AP) — After a three-and-a-half-hour documentary on his life, Paul Simon had only sympathy for the audience. The 81-year-old Simon, himself, hadn't watched the film before its debut, and he didn't watch it Sunday, either. “In Restless Dreams,” which takes its name from a lyric in “The Sound of Silence” ("In restless dreams I walked alone"), also intimately captures Simon painstakingly assembling his latest album, “Seven Psalms," which was released in May. “I haven’t accepted it entirely, but I’m beginning to,” Simon told the audience of his hearing loss in a post-screening Q&A. “Having the truth about me depicted by an observer is very interesting to me," Simon said.

Persons: Paul Simon, Simon, hadn't, “, ”, Art Garfunkel, ” Simon, Gibney, “ Sinatra, ” “, Jake Coyle Organizations: TORONTO, South, ”, Twitter Locations: Queens , New York, Wimberly , Texas

☆ In the Art of Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Vietnam’s Nightmares Live On
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Roberta Smith | More About Roberta Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

One of the wisest, most beautiful and unsettling exhibitions in New York this summer is “Tuan Andrew Nguyen: Radiant Remembrance” at the New Museum, a show about coming to terms with the intergenerational trauma of war. Nguyen works in video and also makes art objects pertaining to them. Nguyen was born in Saigon, Vietnam, in 1976, and came to the United States with his family three years later. The artist’s first major exhibition in an American museum, “Radiant Remembrance,” has been organized by Vivian Crockett, a curator at the museum, and Ian Wallace, a curatorial assistant. Its video installations focus on people who live in the shadow of the two long wars for Vietnamese independence.

Persons: “ Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Nguyen, ”, Vivian Crockett, Ian Wallace Organizations: New Museum Locations: New York, Saigon, Vietnam, United States, Oklahoma , Texas, Southern California, Ho Chi Minh City

☆ The Art of Telling Forbidden Stories in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Han Zhang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Browsing one of the literature bulletin boards, he came across a serialized novel titled “My Beijing,” published under the pseudonym Drunken Fish. Hao’s depiction of Chengdu’s seedy underbelly became a sensation on forums like Tianya, one of the period’s largest blogging platforms. Once, a colleague recommended the novel to Hao without knowing that he was Murong Xuecun. “From the get-go, he has been completely obsessed with how people are corrupted by the environment in which they live,” says Megan Walsh, author of “The Subplot,” a book about contemporary Chinese literature. Later, at a propaganda meeting, the deputy party secretary of Chengdu criticized Hao’s fiction for damaging the city’s image.

Persons: Hao, ”, Fish, Murong Xuecun, Wei Da, Wei, Megan Walsh, Li Boqing, Li, Ran Yunfei, ” Ran Organizations: Authorities, Writers ’ Association, International New York Times Locations: Beijing, H.R, Shenzhen, Chengdu, China, North Africa, Weibo

☆ I became a superyacht chef without any formal training. Here's how I turned my hobby into cooking for celebrities like Pharrell Williams while traveling the world.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Claire Turrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Since then, I've worked on 20 different superyachts in Asia, in the Caribbean, and in the Mediterranean. The yachts I've worked on have personal submarines, helipads, and spas. Dinner reservations can fall through, or once they get to the restaurant, the yacht owners may decide the vibes are off and that they no longer want to eat there. But I don't just cook for the owners, the guests, and the crew — sometimes, I cook for the owner's pets. I get my jobs through word of mouth, but to help people who are starting out to connect with other yacht chefs, I launched thesuperyachtchef.com in 2019.

Persons: Rachel Cunningham, Niki Lauda, Pharrell Williams, she'd, I've, I'd, wouldn't, must've, documentarian, Barts, Jeong Kwan, I'm Organizations: Service, Michelin, Netflix, Rachel Cunningham Chefs Locations: Asia, Caribbean, Wall, Silicon, Europe, Australia, Palma, Mallorca, Spain, France, London, Bluewater, Florida, Monaco, Seychelles, Bali, Malta, LordHenriVoton, Miami, Alaska, St, Devon, South Korea, Japan, Antigua

☆ How investigative journalists and a Netflix film kept the focus on the Gilgo Beach victims over a decade
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Eric Levenson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Watch The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper: The Gilgo Beach Killer Sunday at 8 p.m. The bodies of four women were among nearly a dozen sets of human remains found near Gilgo Beach and Ocean Parkway on Long Island. Suffolk County Police DepartmentHeuermann has pleaded not guilty to the murders of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Lynn Costello. A major corruption scandal within Suffolk County law enforcement did not help the matter. Notably, a day after he was arrested, the Suffolk County police deputy commissioner announced that the FBI would join the investigation into the Gilgo Beach murders.

Persons: Anderson Cooper, Shannan Gilbert, Long, Gilbert, WH ”, ”, Spencer Platt, Rodney Harrison, Rex Heuermann, Heuermann, Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard, Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman, Suffolk County Police Department Heuermann, “ It’s, ” Robert Kolker, CNN International’s Rosemary, “, it’s, ” Kolker, “ There’s, who’s, Kolker, Ellen Killoran, Erin Moriarty, Amy Ryan, Liz Garbus, Shannan, Mari, Mari Gilbert, Garbus, James Burke, Burke, Thomas J, Spota, Christopher McPartland, Harrison, Heuermann’s, he’s, Ray Tierney, I’m Organizations: CNN, Netflix, Getty, Suffolk County Police, FBI, Force, Suffolk County Police Department, CNN International’s, “ People Magazine, New York Times, Authorities, Long Island Press, Golden State, Attorney Locations: Shore, Gilgo Beach, Long, Suffolk County, Suffolk

☆ Little Big Men: ‘The Luckiest Guy in the World’ and ‘Goliath’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Mike Hale | More About Mike Hale | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Pity the poor 7-footer. That’s the message of two new documentary series about storied basketball players: “The Luckiest Guy in the World,” about Bill Walton (available in the “30 for 30” hub at ESPN Plus), and “Goliath,” about Wilt Chamberlain (premiering Friday at Paramount+ and Sunday on Showtime). The sportswriter Jackie MacMullan delivers what could be a thesis statement for both in “Goliath”: “I’ve found that big men are much more sensitive than we realize.”Chamberlain, who died of heart failure in 1999, and Walton both have well-defined personas, which they participated in creating. It’s engagingly introspective and personal, in part because James pushes back against Walton’s incessant recitation of the title phrase. How can Walton call himself the luckiest guy in the world, James asks from behind the camera, when his career was utterly ravaged by injuries that eventually crippled him and drove him to consider suicide?

Persons: Guy, Bill Walton, “ Goliath, ”, Wilt Chamberlain, Guy ”, Goliath, ESPN's, Michael Jordan, Jackie MacMullan, “, ” Chamberlain, Walton, Chamberlain, Steve James, Lionel Hollins, Dave Twardzik, James Organizations: ESPN Plus, Paramount, Showtime, Walton, Portland Trail Blazers

☆ Ellen Hovde, ‘Grey Gardens’ Documentarian, Dies at 97
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Neil Genzlinger | More About Neil Genzlinger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ellen Hovde, a documentarian who was one of the directors of “Grey Gardens,” the groundbreaking 1975 movie that examined the lives of two reclusive women living in a deteriorating mansion on Long Island and inspired both a Broadway musical and an HBO film, died on Feb. 16 at her home in Brooklyn. She was 97. Her death, which had not been widely reported, was confirmed last week by her children, Tessa Huxley and Mark Trevenen Huxley, who said the cause was Alzheimer’s disease. In 1969 she was a contributing editor on “Salesman,” a documentary by the Maysleses and Charlotte Zwerin that followed four salesmen as they peddled $49.95 Bibles door to door in New England and Florida. The next year she was an editor on “Gimme Shelter,” the documentary by the Maysleses and Ms. Zwerin that captured a Rolling Stones tour, including the concert at Altamont Speedway in Northern California in late 1969 at which a concertgoer was killed by a Hells Angel.

Persons: Ellen Hovde, “, Tessa Huxley, Mark Trevenen Huxley, Hovde, Albert, David, ”, Charlotte Zwerin, Zwerin Organizations: HBO, Altamont Speedway Locations: “ Grey, Long, Brooklyn, New England, Florida, Northern California

☆ Where a Photographer’s Curiosity Became a Two-Year Commitment
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( John Otis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Though he grew up just a few miles away, Jonah Markowitz, a photographer and documentarian based in Brooklyn, knew little about the neighborhood of Kensington before 2021. That’s when he noticed, in New York City data from the year before, that an outsize portion of applications for new business licenses came from the area that included Kensington. So he began to check out the neighborhood, which had been a hub of Bangladeshi life in the city since the 1970s. Mr. Markowitz expected to start a project about economic trends in an immigrant community. Instead, he spent almost two and a half years visiting the same corner in Kensington, working on a portrait of the quiet transformation of a New York City neighborhood.

Persons: Jonah Markowitz, Markowitz Organizations: Metro Locations: Brooklyn, Kensington, New York City

☆ The ‘Unofficial Talent Scout’ Who Celebrates New York’s Colorful Side
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Joshua Needelman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

More Than Likes is a series about social media personalities who are trying to do positive things for their communities. Before he was New York Nico (handle: @newyorknico), the popular social-media documentarian of New York’s quirks and characters, Nicolas Heller was the “mayor of 16th Street” — at age 3. On his walk home from nursery school, Mr. Heller would check in with all the friendly faces on the block: the manager at Steak Frites who kept a tub of ice cream with the boy’s name on it; the security guard at the tile store who tipped his cap and made funny faces at him; the antique-clothing salespeople who would turn their standing mirror around so he could see his reflection.

Persons: Nico, Nicolas Heller, Heller, Steak

☆ Celebrate Pride at the Tribeca Festival
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Kyle Turner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The 2023 Tribeca Festival is coinciding with Pride month, and as L.G.B.T.Q. rights come under renewed attack, the festival includes a handful of films that show the resilience of the community. From that robust list, these five films are worth a closer look. ‘Chasing Chasing Amy’Director: Sav RodgersThe documentarian Sav Rodgers examines the significance of the writer-director Kevin Smith’s 1997 comedy through a number of lenses. Most important, Rodgers wrestles with the role the film had in his own self-discovery.

Persons: Amy ’, Sav Rodgers, Kevin Smith’s, Rodgers, Smith Locations: tribecafilm.com

☆ The tech boom created billionaires and 'a whole lot of really poor, unhappy people,' says prolific author Douglas Rushkoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Writer and documentarian Douglas Rushkoff has changed his thinking on the digital boom, he told Wired. Rushkoff, who now teaches, said the digital economy made billionaires, but also "poor, unhappy people." He told his students he was "excited" in the 1990s about the possibilities of the digital economy. Despite the optimism for the potentials of the digital economy he had decades ago, Rushkoff has changed his thinking, Wired reports. He also told Wired that he's "come to see these technologies as intrinsically antihuman."

Search resuls for: "documentarian"

25 mentions found