Photo: PBS

It’s hard not to see how the world is growing closer. With the outpouring (though not necessarily the execution) of love and support for Haiti, it seems as if the pain and suffering we see others experiencing is truly hitting us in the heart.

But the connection doesn’t necessarily need to be all about pain – it can also be about joy, movement, music. And maybe a little bit of drama, politics, and revolution just for fun. Which is exactly why I’m looking forward to a new travel series on PBS based on stories behind world music (and countries) you may not otherwise hear about.

It’s called Soundtracks: Music Without Borders, and it premieres this Monday, January 25th at 10pm on your local PBS station. Here’s a little clip to draw you in:

If you can’t wait, aren’t in the States, or prefer to watch shows online, they’ve already got the pilot episode on their website. Along with telling the story of Fela’s Afrobeat, seen in the clip above, the reporters find out what’s behind a pop-inspired Putin propaganda song, and my favorite – why the hell an internationally-known Kazakh violinist would ask Borat’s (Sasha Baron Cohen) brother to write a symphony for the country.

If you dig the episode, let PBS know on their comments page. This is what they have to say:

If enough of you agree that SOUND TRACKS is the kind of series you’d like to have on PBS, you can look forward — starting next year — to a world of exciting music, surprising destinations and unforgettable stories.

Some of those possible places include the “bayous of Louisiana to the backstreets of Havana, from the nightclubs of Paris to desert music festivals in Mali.” Plus, they promise to interview Bollywood singers, and you know you’re dying to ask if they are being serious when they sing and dance like that.

Community Connection

Need some help to find the best world music available? Then bookmark Paul Sullivan’s fantastic resource, #MusicMonday: 50 Music Sites That Matter.

Director Olaf de Fleur with film’s subject Robert T. Edison.

Robert T. Edison was born and raised in Nottingham, England. When he was fourteen years old he began to practice Buddhism.

In 1994, he became the first Buddhist monk in Iceland and founded a Buddhist sect. Five years later Robert decided to “disrobe” and get married.

After sixteen years of celibacy Robert had to deal with the “real world” – getting employment, paying his bills and dealing with the needs of his partner. In short, he had to act normal.

Filmed over 10 years, Act Normal is a fascinating journey by a man looking to either face the world head on, or ultimately escape it.

Watch the trailer:

I caught up with director Olaf de Fleur to interview him about the film, his interest in Buddhism, and what it’s like to dedicate 10 years of his own life to a project.

The Interview

BNT: First, what drew you to Robert Edison as a subject? Did you already have an interest in Buddhism?

OLAF: I was doing a film at the time with several interviews about the meaning of life, Robert was one of the subjects. I was drawn to Buddhism through him and started to randomly film.

The film follows the subject for quite a period. Were you on board to make a documentary from the very beginning? Or was it an idea that evolved over time?

It evolved over time. I filmed some interviews with Robert, following him around with my film-making friends, always when I was going to close the film, something new happened. It all sort of happened by itself. I can’t say it was a very conscious decision to make this film.

The best kind of film work I do happens like this, almost by itself, with limited conscious participation. It’s hard to describe, but it’s just a feeling I follow and it’s nothing very complex. Just a little gut kitten I chase down a street.

At one point, the protagonist Robert T. Edison, talks about how the life of a monk is not running away from life’s problems, but rather “confronting them head on.” Do you agree/disagree with his statement?

Act Normal / Buy Now

Agree or disagree is not perhaps the right term. I can relate to what he’s saying by that. It rings true for me, but of course not with everybody. Confronting life’s moments at their core, the feeling of each moment, sounds more true for me than chasing distractions.

Robert also says that while most religions agree life is suffering, religions disagree on the cause of suffering. What are your thoughts on this?

I don’t really have strong opinions on this. Which is an opinion in itself.

I haven’t studied religions at all. I’m more of a fan of trying to see things as they are. I could talk about religion for a long time, and I did do that as a teenager. But I feel that matter is so opinionated and polluted in discussion that I’ve mostly dropped it from my mind.

Finding useful rational tools that help in day-to-day moments is essential for each individual. I feel that the term “religion” is not extremely useful as everyday-life tool. Of course we each have our opinion about it.

With the wealth of material, what were some of the biggest challenges making the film?

Making a decent structure. Over time structure creates itself. So it was more a matter of patience and not trying to rush things. In this kind of a film there is no right or wrong structure, it’s very free flowing. In the end I decided to mix time phases of Robert’s life. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Did you have any favourite scenes that had to be left out?

No, not really. I did not care much if the film was too long. It’s that kind of a film. If you’re interested in the subject then you’ll watch it. I was not trying to reach a main stream audience. When you do that, it’s useful to drop scenes for the sake of duration. That was not the case here.

Through the process of the film, how did your own understanding of Buddhism change? And your understanding of life?

It changed my life meeting Robert. The film was basically done for myself and those who have similar thoughts, doubting society and it’s emphasis. That there is more in the simpleness of life.

I don’t see myself as Buddhist. I’m just curious why humans complicate life and I love to study both ways, the complexities of the mind and the beauty of simple elements.

Watch a 10 minute behind-the-scenes short film.

Learn more and purchase Act Normal on Poppoli Pictures.

God is a popular topic these days. Most people seem to have an opinion on a) what God is, and b) who’s side he (or she) is on.

And thus arises the problem: how can God be on more than one team at the same time? If humans are the sort of species that don’t mind a few glaring illogical realities, than we’d probably get along just fine. Unfortunately, as most of us know, humans aren’t that sort of species.

Instead, it appears ever since the idea of God took hold, we’ve decided to fight about it. The only thing that’s changed is the size of our weapons and the stakes of the conflict.

Luckily, filmmaker Peter Rodger decided it’s time once and for all to explore how God is perceived around the world. The film, premiering this Friday in the US, is Oh My God.

Watch the trailer:

Suitably intrigued, I decided to interview Peter about the film, and his epic experience shooting around the world.

The Interview

BNT: What initially compelled you to start this film?

PETER RODGER: Frustration. I was amazed in a shrinking world of enhanced communication, mankind can be so seemingly narrow minded. There seems to be such a childish schoolyard mentality that permeates our world – I call it the “My God Is greater than your God syndrome.”

Where you have grown men flying airplanes into buildings shouting “God is Great”; where you have the leader of the free world telling the BBC in 2003 that he invaded Iraq because God told him to; where you have the constitution of a country (Iran) that dictates that its supreme leader is God’s representative on earth; where you have young men and women blowing themselves up (and innocent others) to buy a place into heaven.

None of these concepts made any sense to me, so I thought it was about time someone went around the world and asked people what this entity that goes by the name of God means to them.

Did you have any expectations on the journey and what you would learn?

No. I just knew I was going along for an interesting ride. I wanted to rid myself of expectation and see what the experience would throw at me. I had no idea what I would learn when I set out. I was far too concerned about how to make a film out of such a wide, sensitive and seemingly unanswerable question!

Your film features some stunning cinematography and editing – at times resembling a music video. How important was this aesthetic to the content and message of your film?

Filmmaker Peter Rodger

Extremely important. Another reason I had for making the film was to be able to go shoot without clients around my head – make a film where I wanted to point the camera and not because someone was paying me to point the camera. (I’ve directed many commercials!)

The aesthetic became extremely important. There is also a sub plot going on in the film. I wanted to shoot the earth with as much artistic integrity as possible – to wrap the audience in the amazingly diverse beauty that surrounds us – in the guise of a bucolic landscape or the look in a child’s eye.

To use a biblical phrase, the earth became the garden of Eden for me. If you want to explore the entity of God – then open your eyes, grab a camera and shoot it. Music played an enormous part in the process. Film is sound and vision. I would cut sequences with John Hoyt, my editor and then Alex Bubenheim would score to it – but in two instances in the film – we switched.

Alex had come with me on to Australia and Japan and had recorded all sorts of music/vibes/sounds etc that he incorporated into a track – so we cut to the track instead of vice versa – which gives you – as you said – a music video vibe in places. It’s a film full of amazing words and information – throwing 2 sequences into the mix like this has the effect of pulling you back and keeping a pace at the same time.

What were the challenges of travelling with a small crew? What are the advantages?

The challenges were a bad back and having to do EVERYTHING split between myself and my one crew member – Line Producer Patrick Ellis. But it is amazing what training does for you.

Masaii Tribesman

I learnt to put things back! Instead of just leaving a lens cap, or a filter somewhere for some assistant to deal with – I actually PUT IT AWAY! Amazing. It soon became that I could prepare the camera and prep to shoot in complete darkness without thinking, – just by knowing exactly where everything was.

The advantages for the film were amazing. We shot under the radar – no one would know we were making a theatrical movie. We slipped in and out of places, unseen, as tourists or NGO workers or whatever.

Once we walked into the Palestinian Parliamentary building one Thursday afternoon unannounced in Ramalah and got amazing stuff and a great interview with a Hamas leader. If we had a full crew – with assistants and production coordinators, translators and egos – we would have been arrested and locked up – especially as we didn’t have a permit.

In your opinion, why do people all over the world have a need to believe in God?

Because they don’t have the courage to believe in themselves. They have been conditioned to believe in something greater than the sum of all their parts. They are scared of death, and don’t know where they came from.

We are all just primitive little organisms on a big rock in a scary vacuum desperate to have something to hold onto. God, usually in the image of something, and mostly in the image of man, becomes a comfy thing to hold onto. The trouble starts when people hold on so hard they push other human beings away.

What Mankind has to learn is that there is room for us all.

Who were the people you met that appeared the most profoundly at peace? How did their understanding of God (or the divine) contribute towards their peace?

Zen Master Kanju Tanaka from Kyoto Japan. He was wonderful and made so much sense. Being a Zen master he rejects the concept of God. He believes that we are already in paradise – we are already here and conscious now because we have earned our place in paradise – here – already.

For some, life on earth is hell. It is up to the individual to have peace and realize that problems are self created and then even in the most dire situations with the right outlook and in-look we can learn to make our hell – heaven. That concept is very powerful.

At one point in the film, you make that connection that conflict is usually caused by two things: land and religion. I would argue even further – conflict at its core is never about religion. It’s about human insecurities cloaking themselves under religious guise. Do you feel in some ways the search to unite us in the common thread of belief detracts from the social and economic reasons behind world conflicts?

All wars are about money/land and most use religion as the excuse. Throw in emotion and you have a lethal cocktail. Good news is no news.

We are all guilty – filmmakers, journalists, readers and watchers – of that one. Nobody talks about the great charitable work each religious institution executes. They just talk about the guy that blew himself up, and the blood and turmoil he caused. No one mentions institutions like Rabbis and Imams for Peace – they just talk about katyusha rockets and walls.

When it comes to conflict it’s about the club in which people belong – that maim those that don’t belong. So the answer to your question is yes.

Who was the most surprising interview you conducted?

Christian Hernandez, the little boy with cancer. (I am very happy to say he went through a bone marrow transplant and is doing REALLY WELL and he came to a screening last week.) I asked him – “What is your greatest wish today?” His answer blew me away – but you have to go see the film to find out why!

By the end of the film, how did your perception of God change? And what was the most important insight you learned about yourself?

Oh boy! My perception of God melted from any human form into a much more powerful force – a glue if you like – that binds humanity together.

I think Jesus Christ was bang on when he said he was the son of God because I think we’re all the son of God. We are all right now collectively what a lot of people would refer to as God – the Anima Mundi – the reservoir of every thought that has ever taken place in the history of time.

And what was the most important insight I learned about myself? To learn to let go.

Oh My God opens this week. Check the website for showtimes.

What do you think about the diversity of God? Is it a concept humanity needs to let go? Or does it serve a binding purpose?

The grieving angel / Photo: Theodore Scott / Feature photo: L’enfant terrible

By most accounts, the state of the world is in dire shape. The collective madness of humanity seems unable and perhaps unwilling to change its destructive habits, both on the environment and each other.

But what if we could dig deep into our psyche, to understand the root causes of many of our behaviours on a psychological, spiritual, and cultural level?

That was the goal set forth by Patrick Shen, a documentary filmmaker who set out to uncover the source of “death anxiety” and how it influences our lives on a daily basis. The result: Flight From Death: The Quest For Immortality. (watch the trailer).

I caught up with Patrick to discuss the film, the nature of death anxiety, and how to make our own lives a work of art.

BNT: How did you come up with the concept for Flight From Death?

PATRICK SHEN: I stumbled upon Ernest Becker’s monumental, Pulitzer Prize-winning book Denial of Death one day at a used book store. I had never heard of it, but the title intrigued me and and I had been asking a lot of the same questions that, according to the back cover, this book seemed to address; so I picked it up.

I was totally awakened by it. Reading Denial of Death marked a major intellectual shift in my life. I wanted everyone to know about the ideas in this book and immediately began exploring the possibility of translating it into documentary form. Making the film and getting to explore it more in such an intense way, marked yet another major shift in my life.

You mention the shoot took 4 years. How did the length of the shoot impact your vision of the film? Further, how did you change from the beginning to the end?

The whole production, inclusive of post-production, took about four years. We shot the film over a period of about two and a half years. I remember feeling like the scope of the film kept expanding with every month that went by. The more time we had to think about the movie, the more we wanted to include in it and the more ambitious we became.

Director Patrick Shen

I love that one film critic in Australia would later refer to Flight from Death as “one of the most ambitious movies ever made.” Four years gave us a lot of time to painstakingly craft what is possibly the most thorough introduction to Becker’s ideas that our little brains could possibly muster at the time.

The events of 9/11/01 certainly had an impact on the vision of the film. 9/11 gave us an opportunity to examine Becker’s ideas within the context of a current event that the entire world was now discussing and attempting to process.

As devastated as we were, not to mention distraught over having lost a friend and fellow crew member that day, I knew we needed to act quickly to incorporate it into the movie.

In the film we focus on the work of three experimental social psychologists who created Terror Management Theory based on the ideas of Ernest Becker.

In a nutshell, the theory states that humans, in order to function properly in light of our impending death, need to feel like we are a significant participant in a meaningful worldview. Without the meaningful context within which we live out our lives, we are stripped of all things that make us feel human and must confront the possibility that we are no more significant than an ant or a fern.

Naturally, an attempt to weaken or to suggest that one’s worldview is invalid, is not taken lightly. At the time, the trio of psychologists had already conducted close to 300 experiments to substantiate this claim. After the events of 9/11, we found ourselves in the middle of a terror management theory experiment taking place on a grand scale.

It allowed us to show that Becker’s ideas were as relevant then as they were when Denial of Death was first published in 1973.

I changed pretty dramatically throughout the course of making the film. I began the journey of making Flight from Death with a predominantly academic and intellectual point of view. I was a man of scientific thought and logical inquiry and it was exactly those elements of Becker’s work that had resonated most with me initially.

Upon a closer and more honest investigation of Becker’s work, I began to see that he asks much more of us, beyond just a scientific approach, in our exploration of the problem of the human condition. Many people mistake Denial of Death for being an atheistic text – as I did in the beginning – and often use Becker’s ideas to bolster an atheistic point of view. Becker was not interested in debunking religion, though I think he probably had his doubts.

In fact, I think Becker was very curious about religion, judging by his documented correspondence with a priest for many years and his fondness for reading Psalms. In addition, Becker’s work borrows heavily from Kierkegaard, a devout Christian.

It’s very possible that Becker considered the religious solution as a viable means to combatting our anxiety. I’m not suggesting that we all run out and go to church, but I am suggesting that we approach the problem of death anxiety – of the human condition – with a multi-disciplinary approach, just as Becker had done with his work and just as we should approach all things so significant in scope.

You assert that all culture can be attributed to dealing with death anxiety. Can you elaborate further on your point?

From anthropology we learn that a culture, or shared set of beliefs about the nature of reality, is specific to a particular region or people group. There may be some underlying general commonalities (i.e. Most cultures have a creation story) but the particular beliefs and practices of one culture can differ significantly and often even appear contradictory to those of another.

Filming an interview

As the film points out, a gifted basketball player whom we shower with fame, fortune, and praise in the United States has much less relevance in another culture which might value more the ability to catch a fish or sustain hours of uninterrupted meditation. Success, or heroism, in one culture clearly does not necessarily translate to another.

Becker theorizes that it is our shared set of beliefs that make it possible for us to feel like we are significant participants in a meaningful universe and that without them, we are confronted with the possibility that we are nothing more than a living, breathing, decaying piece of meat no different than the next life form.

Culture then essentially elevates us beyond the physical world – and its limitations along with it (i.e. death) – and provides definition for our symbolic world, the world within which we truly live out our lives.

In the physical world, we’re doomed. We can’t win. We’ll die someday and there’s nothing we can do about it. Culture provides us the rules and the formula by which we can win, at least symbolically.

There are two general methods we employ to do this. Heroism is our attempt to transcend the natural order of things. When we achieve more than what others have, effectively transcending the natural order, we enter into the super-natural. The hero stands out amongst the crowd and achieves a sense of symbolic immortality for now he is more than just that decaying piece of meat and also stands a better chance at never being forgotten.

The other method is to immerse ourselves in a cause or belief system that is larger and more permanent than we are. Organisms often have a better chance at survival when they stick together (i.e. strength in numbers). As symbolic creatures, we do the same to survive.

The more people we surround ourselves with that believe the same things we do about the nature of reality, the more confident we can feel that what we believe is true. More importantly, when we are a part of something that will continue on long after we have gone, we too feel like a part of us will go on after we die.

Gabriel Byrne makes a poignant comment about how editing a film is made up of choices: such as a person walking, or a bird taking flight. He compares these disconnected moments as much like life itself. What are your thoughts on his comment?

I think what he meant was that life is inherent in everything around us. Our mental capacity as humans allows to see that life is an incredible phenomenon and if we take the time to notice it, there’s evidence of this phenomenon infused in every movement we make.

Some immortalists believe that science will eventually eliminate aging and death altogether. In the film, you insist that ending “natural death” may actually increase death anxiety, as we can never eliminate accidental death. What do you say to futurists like Ray Kurzweil who continue to pursue immortality through science?

I think it’s an interesting endeavor for sure and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about what it would be like to live forever.

As you point out in your question however, the potential for us to be robbed of our immortality because of an accidental death is even more terrifying than if we are being robbed of say 50 years. I worry that if we have not found a way to constructively process our death anxiety then we aren’t ready to live forever.

In the film, there is a lot of evidence and experimental data to suggest that much of our aggressive behaviors and the violence in the world stems from our inability to reconcile with death anxiety. If this is true, what will happen if our death anxiety is increased even two-fold, let alone ten or twenty?

How has the film been your own attempt to deal with death anxiety? How has meeting your death head on affected your outlook on life?

Admittedly, this film and all films I make, serve a vital role for me in dealing with my own death anxiety. It is certainly my way of leaving my mark on the world.

Flight From Death / BUY DVD

It’s an attempt at heroism. It’s proof of my existence and that maybe I mattered in some way. The creative solution to the problem of death anxiety is an intriguing one. Van Gogh, and his longing to make his mark, left us with many great works of art.

I think transferring our anxieties onto creative works whether they are artistic endeavors or not, can be a very satisfying, and at the same time, constructive way to deal with death anxiety.

Making Flight from Death and dwelling on death for so many years both heightened my anxiety and at the same time soothed it. Because I’m perhaps more aware of death and how it lurks in every shadow and around every corner, I’m more careful. Because I now have a family, that awareness has heightened even more. It’s sometimes troubling how much it influences me.

The challenge for me is to take that anxiety and rather than let it discourage me from fully engaging the world around me, use it to fuel my passion for living.

I have developed a real passion for creating a masterpiece out of life, which is probably the ultimate creative endeavor. My level of appreciation for the opportunity to continuing living each day has evolved into a genuinely overwhelming sense of gratitude. A healthy awareness of death – surely a constant work-in-progress for us all – has given each moment in my life, on most days, a whole new dimension that is now impossible to ignore.

It struck me that much of what you call “death anxiety” in the film is really what Buddhists would call “ego death anxiety.” Further, Buddhists offer a concrete method, meditation, to transcend the ego and acheive a profound inner calm. I’m curious why you never explored this connection in the film?

It’s an intriguing solution for sure. We actually interviewed two Buddhists in the film, David Loy and a close friend of Becker’s, Ron Leifer.

In Buddhism as you might know there is this notion of “no self”. If our ego does not exist and if we can train ourselves to realize this through meditation and essentially disconnect from our-selves, there will be no death anxiety to contend with. I think the problem lies in the meditation.

To achieve that kind of discipline and consistency of focused (or should I say un-focused?) meditation can take most of us a lifetime to master. Also, the ego and the threat of losing our egos to death, has driven humanity to do great things, to innovate, and achieve great feats. What happens to this spirit of progress and creation when the ego is removed from the equation?

These are all really interesting things to continue discussing.We didn’t explore this nor any other religious solutions in the film because it would have required that the film be twice as long and twice as more expensive to make. It’s really deserving of its own film.

Why have humans continuously chosen a “life destroying illusion” for so many years? What is needed to shake us out of our collective dellusion?

Humans are a pretty immature form of life in the grand scheme of things. We’re like a five year-old being handed the keys to a Corvette.

Our brains are capable of incredible things that are both beautiful and horrific and we haven’t quite figured out how to stay out of trouble. We take the lives of others because we’ve convinced ourselves that killing is a viable means of solving our problems.

Generation after generation, we’ve inherited this belief. It is the animal inside the human that is merely trying to survive and dispose of any threats. If mice had the capacity to build a tank and an atom bomb, I’m sure there would be no cats left in the world. We are, as Freud calls it, a “sick animal”.

In my opinion, what needs to happen is a re-examination of our definition and our relationship with truth. To prove one set of beliefs more true than another is not only unknowable but un-winnable. We’ve tried that route and have created enemies out of one another and have left billions dead in our path.

Our notion of truth, or perhaps we should call it belief, is nothing more than an estimation of reality. There may sometimes be accurate estimations, but they are speculative nonetheless. What we believe to be true as five year-olds is not always the same as what we believe as 70 year-olds.

If belief can change, then belief cannot be absolutely true. It is as James Carse writes in his book The Religious Case Against Belief, “belief is not privileged over knowledge, it is fully open, unfinished, and tentative.”

In other words, truth is a work in progress. Rigid belief leaves no room for our worldviews to be inclusive of other people. We would all forever remain “the other” to one another each living within the context of our exclusive and flawed worldviews.

Learn more about the film at Flight From Death.

What do you think on death anxiety’s influence on each of us? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Community Connection

For further reading, check out an interview with Jason Silva on how science will make you live forever. Then explore Further Conversations On the end of death.

The infamous Hollywood sign / Photo: T Hoffarth

I attended a typical art festival recently, complete with emo-haired candlemakers and sexually liberated painters.

Eventually I spotted two normal-ish young gentlemen (what were they doing there amongst the oppressed peoples of the upper middle-class?) and what they were peddling: angry bumper stickers with a revolutionary message: F*$# Hollywood!

I’m no stranger to hearing the H-bomb, which is what happens when the somewhat oblivious dilettantes express their anti-mainstream sentiments towards many hard-working citizens in showbiz. Why must we always envision a maniacal development girl on her cell phone shoo-ing away scripts with any class in lieu of ‘high concept’ pieces with the magic formula?

As any traveling American (or Canadian who has been mistaken for one) will tell you, it’s hard work facing stubborn opinions of our culture. The fast food, the big cars… perhaps rightfully so. But I’m starting to enjoy defending this particular cornerstone of it.

During political turbulence, Hollywood usually plays a starring role: think Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Full Metal Jacket, Inherit the Wind, The China Syndrome…

However – and I’m paranoid of sounding snobby when I use this disclaimer – I’ve worked at an international film festival for years, so I adore indies just as much (usually more). While that might give me incentive to drop the H-bomb everywhere, I usually don’t. Here’s why.

The Beauty Of Escapism

When I come out of a foreign cinema with any qualms whatsoever, I’m pelted with: “But you’re American. You just didn’t like [insert scene/actor] because it wasn’t Hollywood. It was realistic.”

Batman impersonator / Photo: don.lee

My nationality invalidates my taste, brands me with the Scarlett (Johansson) Letter. Suddenly I’m back in junior high, wondering why people are dissing my Batman slippers. Doesn’t everybody like Batman? The answer is yes, but it’s much cooler to splatter paint and write cuss words in magic marker on your Converse until you get detention. Now that’s art.

You see, movies learned to walk (and talk) during wartime. Not the kind we’ll all yell about tonight when we’re inebriated and angry about oil, but wars where college students were nurses, stockings were turned into parachutes and sailors kissed their sweethearts in Times Square.

“Going to the pictures” was escapism, because we needed and longed for it, as much as butter and paperclips. Cliché and unrealism were beautiful. In 2009, when ten seconds is too long to wait for something and we’re stuck in our idyllic suburb bubbles, now we’re longing for reality in a box.

Today, more ‘indie’ films are born daily than there are awkward clauses in a Michael Cera movie. That’s not a bad thing, as long as it’s understood that rewarding trailblazers and their minimalist mise-en-scene is not exactly world domination.

It’s evolution, and the last thing a butterfly should do is spit on a caterpillar.

What About Frodo?

You know what the real problem was? Not the bumper sticker itself, but that I’m pretty confident both its hucksters owned at least two copies of the Lord of the Rings between them.

If those maniacal production devils weren’t brave enough to bank on an obsessive, geeky nutcase (God bless you, Mr. Jackson), we would all be Frodo-less today, and probably Vader-less too.

Films like Star Trek, in spite of its anticipated brilliance and undeniable fun, are now out of fashion because of a lack of gritty reality or controversy, Spock’s eyebrows aside.

So come now, children, less complaining. The average moviegoer doesn’t have the stomach for The Machinist or the patience for Gus Van Sant’s occasional cinematic modern dance. They want Aniston. That’s alright.

And H-bomb-droppers still might see Tom Cruise’s movies because they’re usually good. Admit that at least a few of your favorite films had someone’s big fat wallet behind them, and that your life may be a tiny bit better for it.

Supporting Indie Films

Most importantly, actually start watching the films that need your support – that means paying for them, by the way. Helping an indie involves being one of its tiny statistics, not one of the moochers who appreciate it in silence.

You can’t just stare; you must put the bill in the thong if you want the stripper to feed her kids and come back tomorrow night.

The irony is amusing once you get it: some people justify their video piracy with “not financing rich execs who value profit over quality”… and yet said pirates clearly save money by sacrificing viewing quality. Hardy har-har, no?

My advice: when traveling, embrace opportunities to support foreign films in their home countries, not just the lucky films that get bought, shakily subtitled and shoved into Netflix. Also, indie means independently produced, not necessarily controversial.

Lastly, the exception proves the rule, so if you prefer the quirky exceptions, respect the mainstream rule. It’s possible to love both Parker Posey and Natalie Portman. Heck, you probably already do.

Now all I need is to fit all that on a witty bumper sticker.

Community Connection

Don’t miss 10 Movies Guaranteed To Blow Your Mind, and the aptly titled follow up 311 More Films Guaranteed To Blow Your Mind. Many of the picks are in fact, courtesy of big budget Hollywood.

What do you think of despising Hollywood? Share your thoughts in the comments!

I don’t know about you, but doesn’t it feel like our society is extraordinarily self-centered? Sure, we pay taxes, donate to charity, send aid to foreign countries… etc.

Yet at the end of the day, our lives seem geared toward looking out for #1: our own personal happiness.

Is there anything wrong with this picture? Not necessarily… unless our own quest for self happiness has been co-opted for the gain of corporations, as explored in this brilliant BBC documentary “The Century Of The Self.”

From the film’s website:

To many in both politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really?

The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?

I highly recommend watching the entire film, with all four episodes below. It offers a fascinating glimpse into the current state of the self and the forces that seek to taint your inner journey.

Episode 1 – Happiness Machines

Episode 2 – The Engineering of Consent

Episode 3 – There is a Policeman Inside All Our Head: He Must Be Destroyed

Episode 4 – Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering

What do you think of the argument in the film? Share your thoughts in the comments!

If you’re like me, you’ve probably heard of ’string theory’ before. It’s basically the idea that everything (me, you, the universe) is made of tiny strings of vibrating energy. Physicists have dubbed these energy strands “strings.”

But what does that actually mean? And why has it caused a huge uproar in the scientific community?

To answer that question, and share it with the laymen, PBS/Nova produced an excellent series explaining string theory and the wild implications. I found all 3 parts online in their entirety…enjoy!

Part I – Einstein’s Dream

Part II – String’s The Thing

Part III – Welcome To The 11th Dimension

To learn more about the program and string theory, visit Nova’s website The Elegant Universe.

The road trip. In the minds of all people, young and old, it conjures up images of neverending highways, new adventures, and the freedom that comes with a full gas tank (or vegetable tank).

Various films throughout the years have tapped into this sense of freedom. Here’s 5 classic road trip scenes that will have you yearning for the open road.

1. Tommy Boy (1995)

The dynamic duo: Chris Farley and David Spade in their best film. While they tried to follow it up the formula with Black Sheep, it lacked the heart of Tommy Boy. In this scene, they’re on their way to sell brake pads to save Farley’s family company. Laughter ensues.

2. Road Trip (2000)

In an interview I read somewhere, director Todd Philips confessed he wanted to make an homage to films like Fast Times At Ridgemont High and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. (Basically an excuse to show Amy Smart mostly naked).

Yet it’s undeniable the film captures the zest of heading out with your best buddies with little more than a direction and the promise of good times.

3. Dumb And Dumber (1994)

A classic scene in a classic movie. There are so many one-liners from this film still being used today, it rightly stands up as one of the best comedies of the 90’s.

4. Easy Rider (1969)

It’s possible motorcycles sales shot through the roof once these bad-ass opening credits were first shown in theatres. For sheer dripping cool-ness, this scene has yet to be topped. After all, who needs a helmet when you’ve got a handlebar mustache?

5. Good Will Hunting (1997)

“I’ve had to go see about a girl.” With those words, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck cemented their careers for the next 10 years. This final roadtrip scene manages to mist the eyes of even the most emotionless men. SPOILER ALERT: Don’t watch unless you’ve already seen the movie.

How do you like them apples? Any favourite road trip scenes I missed? Share in the comments!

Hot off the 2009 SXSW film fesival, “Sweet Deams” by Kirsten Lepore was just named for a Special Jury Award.

The film follows the sugar coated journey of a cupcake who longs to head out on the open sea. When he finally scrapes together the courage to set out, it isn’t long before he is marooned on a lone island.

From there… I won’t spoil the ending for you.

But the film highlights a number of timely themes of travel: the excitement of the journey, the loves we meet abroad, and the knowledge and experience we bring with us when we return home.

What themes did you see in the film? Share your thoughts in the comments!

What does it take to make you stop, feel, listen? What brings you bliss?

This video is an example of how powerful it can be to simply slow down and feel the moment. After watching, it’ll be hard not to see that beauty that surrounds us, and the realization that we can find calm in many different places.

Feature photo Danielle Blue

Share your thoughts below.

Chances are, you’ve watched at least one stunning musical montage produced by the Playing For Change organization.

But have you heard the story behind the story? Bill Moyers, intelligent as always, interviews the project founder Mark Johnson, on the aim and the inspiration behind the journey.

An excerpt:

The idea came about ten years ago, here in New York City. I was in a subway station on my way to work. You know, every day in the subway, people are just running around like crazy to get wherever they have to go.

But this particular day, I was in the subway and I heard these two monks playing music. And they were painted head to toe, all in white, wearing robes. And one of them was playing a nylon guitar and the other one was singing in a language that I didn’t understand and I imagine most people didn’t understand.

You know, there were about 200 people just stopped. Didn’t get on the train and started watching this music. And I looked around and I saw people with tears in their eyes. And I saw jaws dropping. And I just saw this collection.

And it occurred to me that here is a group of people that would normally run by each other. And here they are, collectively coming together. And it’s the music that brought them together.

So it really inspired me. And it occurred to me that when there’s no separation between music and people, when music is just happening and people can walk by and it can affect them, that this is an opportunity for us to really find a way to bring people together.

What do you think of the Playing for Change project? And is it possible to watch any of the clips without getting misty eyed?

Portraying Africa is a daunting task. Descriptions are often rife with stereotypes of warring tribes, starving children, or the AIDS epidemic.

Outsiders tend to view Africa as a single country, rather than a complex and sprawling continent.

As one satirical writer put it in How To Write About Africa: “Africa is to be pitied, worshipped or dominated. Whichever angle you take, be sure to leave the strong impression that without your intervention [...] Africa is doomed.”

Brook Silva Braga, on the heels of his previous backpacking film A Map For Saturday, decided to tackle the challenge the only way he felt necessary – through the experience of ordinary Africans.

The result: One Day In Africa.

After viewing a pre-release screener, I caught up with Brook for a provocative discussion on the journey through his second film.

BNT: How did you come up with the idea for One Day In Africa?

BROOK: I wanted to travel Africa for awhile and an opportunity came up about a year ago to join a group driving the continent north to south.

From the perspective of a documentary the trip offered a great chance to visit a large part of the continent but the disadvantage of moving through each place pretty quickly. So the solution I came up with was to profile people throughout Africa but only for a single day.

The strategy also put the story very much in their hands because I had less raw material to work with than usual.

How did you decide on your subjects?

How I found people really varied a lot, some I just stumbled upon while others I sought out for some special perspective they had.

As in any film, compelling subjects are very important but I also wanted to avoid the easy traps of filling stereotypical boxes like ‘the guy with AIDS’ and ‘the woman in a refugee camp.’ Instead I was looking for people who could articulate what was important to them and give a sense of what life in their community is like.

Did you find your second film easier or harder than your first?

The first one, A Map for Saturday, was certainly more fun to make because I was living the backpacker life for a year and just generally having a great time.

One Day in Africa was more taxing physically and logistically but from a creative perspective it was probably easier because there was much less raw material and I had the experience of the first film to guide me.

Many people think Africa is dangerous. Did you ever feel unsafe during your shoot?

There were a couple nervous moments in my five months there but nothing really bad ever happened. Africa is much, much safer than most people probably imagine.

I’d argue that Mali is safer than Spain, Kenya is safer than Brazil, Malawi is safer than Thailand. There are certainly pockets of Africa that are among the world’s least safe places but they make up a small percentage of the continent.

Like A Map For Saturday, you play a role in your new film – this time as the unseen interviewer. Why did you decide to include yourself and how did that alter the style/perspective of the film?

I don’t think I’d describe myself as “playing a role” in the film any more than I’d describe Scott Pelley as playing a role in a 60 Minutes story. In fact, its that type of long form journalism that most interests me as a model for good documentaries.

I think interviews are much more interesting if there is someone prodding the subject, acting as a proxy for the viewer, rather than being silent.

At one point you have a tense discussion with Osama in Morocco. He believes Jews were responsible for 9/11 and you clearly disagree with him. As a filmmaker, was there a dilemma whether to remain an “observer” of your subjects or to assert your belief of the facts?

I think the way you phrase that question gets right to my opinion on where to draw this line.

I believe as objective fact that Jews were not responsible for 9/11, I don’t think that’s a “belief,” I think its a fact. At some point you have to make some choices about how you interpret reality and that’s one I’m willing to make.

But I’d also point out in that same exchange Osama presents some interesting thoughts on the appeal of Osama Bin Laden to him and other Muslims and I go out of my way not to contradict his opinions even as I try to draw out the thinking behind them.

Brook shooting a scene.

You mentioned to me that this film “lives or dies by not always making the audience feel how they want to feel.” How did this sentiment play into your portrayal of Africa?

I think the reason I said that is because part of what I was trying to do with One Day in Africa was to prioritize what was important to the subjects rather than the viewers.

There are some powerful points to be scored by exploiting westerners’ sympathy, guilt, or pity when telling stories from the developing world and it was my goal to make it more complicated than that.

I think too many of the words and images coming from Africa originate in one way or another from people who seek donations for a certain cause from the rich world.

I saw my role as providing a channel from Africa to the west that wasn’t influenced by any special interest or agenda.

Were there any favourite scenes that didn’t make the final cut?

There was one compelling scene early in the morning with Titus in Kenya where he describes what he went through during the post-election violence there. But the film is chronological so by revealing the most important details of his story first thing in the morning it didn’t leave much to be told later.

So I finally just had to cut the scene and let material from later in the day reveal the story. The good thing about Titus was he could talk and talk and talk so I got all his stories two or three times during that one day.

What was the most important life lesson you took away from the experience?

My time in Africa often reminded me of what a friend told me after two years in the Peace Corps. She said, “all the liberal volunteers became more conservative and all the conservative volunteers became more liberal.”

I think that general principle extends beyond simple political thought.

I think whatever beliefs you have about people and societies unlike your own, you realize when you spend some time in these places that your ways of thinking about them are simplistic and too often based on a frame of reference that no longer applies when you leave home.

One Day In Africa premieres March 26 at the Cleavand Film Festival. Check the website for an upcoming screening near you.

Read our previous interview with Brook Silva Braga about his first film A Map For Saturday.

With dire headlines constantly in the news, it’s easy to feel the world is becoming darker. But if you look close enough, you can see the emergence of unity experiments, all over the globe.

These are creative thinkers, artists, and activists that have come together to promote peace and mutual understanding. Once such group is the Global Oneness Project, who in their own words, are dedicated to:

“…exploring how the radically simple notion of interconnectedness can be lived in our increasingly complex world. We’re traveling the world interviewing people and highlighting organizations that show the diverse ways oneness is expressed in the fields of sustainability, conflict resolution, spirituality, art, agriculture, economics, indigenous culture and social justice.”

The above short film is their flagship piece, answering the question “What would a global transformation look like?”

Watch the film and share your thoughts in the comments!

Photo above by Humayunn N A Peerzaada

At the core of Slumdog Millionaire is the question: Have our lives already been written before us, or do we ultimately influence our destiny? The answers to the question unfold against a vibrant and colorful, but often raw geographical and human landscape in which India is as much a character as the protagonist, Jamal.

At last week’s Golden Globes, director Danny Boyle (whose past work includes The Beach , a polarizing film amongst travelers), picked up the best drama and best director awards for his tale of Indian slum dweller Jamal Malik, who finds himself one question away from winning the TV quiz show, “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”

Photo above by babasteve

But before possibly walking away with the prize money, the nation’s hearts, and even the love of his life, Jamal has to endure torture at the hands of Mumbai’s brutal police, who believe he cheated at the game. The suspicious inspector asks, “How could a slumdog know the answers to those questions?”

The answer: Destiny.

“I knew I’d find you in the end. It’s our destiny.”

Under interrogation, Jamal tells the inspector his incredible life story. None of the young boy’s experiences from childhood to this moment, sitting handcuffed in a chair, are of his own doing. In fact, all Jamal ever did was simply survive as life propelled him from one life threatening or life affirming experience to the next. As we come to realise, though, there was greater meaning to it all.

Underlying the story of Jamal’s life are questions that affect us all: Are our lives really mapped out for us? Does everything happen for a reason? Surely our lives aren’t pre-determined; we shape them through our decisions. Choice, not chance…right?

These are questions with particular resonance for travelers, who know that the momentary decision to go one way or the other will change one’s journey– and even one’s life–and nothing is likely to be the same again. We can’t leave such meaningful decisions to the heavens; we’re in control. Or are we?

Photo above by Meanest Indian

A Nation of Apparent Contradictions

You’ll ponder these questions throughout Jamal’s story, but the real subtext of this film is India. Danny Boyle’s visceral film-making drops you right into the streets. Filming hand-held, guerrilla style, on location, Boyle conveys the the beauty and extremes of India–from dilapidated Mumbai shantytowns and endless garbage-strewn landfills to exhilarating train journeys and colorful mass riverside laundrettes– in an intimate way.

‘You don’t take [Mumbai] for granted, ” Boyle said in an interview promoting the film. “You know nothing about how it assaults your senses. For a dynamic film-maker like myself, it’s everything I could ever want.”

That “everything” includes characters. By setting Jamal and his narrative among the country’s lowlifes, degenerates, innocents, and angels, Boyle ensures that Jamal’s experiences shock and inspire viewers in equal measure.

“I think one of the reasons the film seems to work for people is that it is very extreme,” Boyle said. “That’s what they have there. You’ve got to portray it as an extreme experience. Everything is full-on.”

“It’s a tough place! There’s a lot of poor people living there leading very tough lives. You’ve got portray that accurately. There are beggars who have been crippled deliberately to make them better beggars. You’ve got to get your head around that.”

“You get it rougher in India at the moment,” concluded Boyle, Empire. “….[I]t allows you to tell a story like this.”

Photo above by AshuGarg

Final Answer?

Beyond raising questions of destiny and beautifully portraying Mumbai’s darker side, “Slumdog Millionaire” is also likely to help travelers reflect on their own experiences of India.

Photo by whatwhat. Feature photo by dbasulto.

The ad wizards at Crispin Porter + Bogusky have crafted “Whopper Virgins,” a campaign so absurd that it’s difficult to take as anything but a farce.

In one smooth motion Burger King has called to mind the spectre of imperialism, demeaned entire ethnic groups, and reminded the rest of the world that, even though we elected Barack Obama, there are still plenty of reasons to hate–or at least laugh at– America.

The agency realized that Americans are so saturated with advertising that it’s impossible to get an unbiased opinion of fast food from them.

The only way to get an “entirely pure taste test,” they reasoned, is to ask people with no exposure to the Big Mac or Whopper which they prefer.

The people they chose were Hmong minorities in Thailand, the Inuit of Greenland, and rural Romanians.

The documentary opens with an awkward justification of the hamburger’s importance, the epic swell of a string orchestra and, most importantly, people in wacky clothing failing to eat a big pile of hamburger.

Photo by renaissance chambara

The first part is a straight up taste test, with participants flown in from their homes to taste the freshest McDonald’s and Burger King food possible. Most prefer the Whopper. Then, it’s on to the villages themselves. The crew brings along an authentic Burger King broiler, grills some burgers and films the natives enjoying them.

Burger King probably didn’t do much actual harm to these communities by feeding them crappy American food – in fact, they actually donated educational supplies and funded a church restoration. The issue is how this documentary is presented to its final audience – the English-speaking world and Americans in particular.

The team’s discussion about their subjects is littered with liberal clichés and fake cross-cultural tolerance. The participants are “very difficult people to find” who are “really off the grid,” people who “don’t have television, who don’t have access to, you know, restaurants and what not.”

They’re given taste tests while wearing traditional clothes — which, you may notice later, few are actually wearing in their hometowns. Throughout its eight minutes, the documentary drives home the point that they don’t even know how to eat a burger.

They are “Whopper Virgins,” to be deflowered for our amusement and Burger King’s bottom line.

Americans already have a skewed image of poverty, foreign cultures and the rest of the world, and Burger King’s orientalist nonsense isn’t helping. They’re playing to poisonous sentiments and making money off of reinforcing them, taking on a new White Man’s Burden and playing missionary for American culture to impress the clients back home.

It’s exoticism on par with Ota Benga, and something modern anthropologists, travelers and journalists have been trying to kill for decades.

For better or worse, companies like Burger King are the face of America and the ambassadors of its culture. They wield an extraordinary amount of influence over the perceptions of Americans in places like rural Thailand, Greenland and Romania, but also in the rest of the industrialized world.

Photo by Sister 72

Their power has gone far beyond the average corner restaurant, and as we all know from Spider Man, with great power comes great responsibility. The world is getting smaller and smaller, and in the coming decades we’re all going to be exposed to people who think nothing like us.

Burger King and its ilk will be the ultimate arbiters of intercultural exchange, foisting American culture on the world and the world’s culture on us. It should be their duty to make sure it’s done in a way that is graceful, respectful and productive – this ad campaign was none of those and is an egregious failure to live up to that duty.

I know that by writing about this I’m giving Burger King more publicity. I know that’s exactly why they made it. But if things like Matt Harding’s dancing videos and Vice Travel (both of which I’m a big fan of) are any indication, documentaries like this are the tip of the iceberg.

In an increasingly globalized world, it’s important to open a dialogue about the way the exotic is presented to those that don’t have the will or means to see it for themselves.

Perhaps I’m not the right person to talk about this, though.

Seng Vang, a Hmong man from Minnesota, wrote a letter to the ad agency responsible and he’s not happy about the way they’ve handled things. Burger King responded with a typically sanitized corporate letter, stating its commitment to authenticity, respect and good taste.

Because if there’s one thing Burger King knows, it’s good taste.

Author’s Note:

Short of armed revolution, not much is going to stop Burger King from advertising how it wishes. That doesn’t mean we should all give up though; there’s plenty to be done. Letters are an old standby, and you can write them to both the ad agency and Burger King itself.

Tell your friends how you feel about it – part of the reason this ad is so bad is that most people accept it without thinking (it’s not their fault, though!).

And, of course, don’t eat at Burger King.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Matador doesn’t shy away from calling companies to task for advertising or business practices of the Burger King Whopper Virgins ilk. We’ve taken on Exxon and Ecko, and we’ve also written extensively about how more informed consumer practices can influence companies to be more responsible.

What’s your opinion of the Whopper Virgins ad campaign? Share your thoughts below.

Summer’s the peak season for taking a trip. Every year, when the days start to heat up, it’s a perfect time to go somewhere new – whether to a sun-drenched beach on a distant shore, or a uniquely creative vision in a darkened theater.

This past summer, editor Ian MacKenzie wrote one of the most popular articles in BNT history: “The Red Pill: 10 Films Guaranteed to Blow Your Mind.” The response was phenomenal – everyone had an opinion, if not their own films for the list.

“My original intention was to compile a list of films that applied stylistic themes and narratives to hint at greater truths about our society, culture and world,” Ian said in an e-mail interview.

“I picked these movies because they were either cult favorites or generally popular. If they had been too obscure, many people wouldn’t have been able to relate and contribute to the discussion.”

And contribute they did! It’s even been suggested the list be expanded, and the comments keep coming.

Stirring Up Discussion

Tom Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut

“I hoped the list would do well, but I had no idea it would reach as many people and garner as many comments as it did. Of course, I’m happy it worked out and that it stirred up some healthy discussion,” said Ian.

While most comments were supportive, others were less enthusiastic or flat-out rude. Some people seemed to take it personally that their movies hadn’t been suggested, or that the films weren’t the greatest examples of world cinema.

“I think some people took the list as ‘the only mind blowing films out there’ instead of a list that was compiled through my subjective opinion,” Ian said. “I certainly have other films I could have added to the list (Holy Mountain, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Ghost in the Shell) but wanted to keep the list to 10.

“I appreciated many of the suggestions from readers who ‘got it.’ Others just posted movies they personally found enjoyable, but not necessarily ‘mind-blowing.’”

The Lists

As of October 12, 2008, here are the movies readers chose as “mind-blowing.”

Some titles may surprise you (perhaps suggested jokingly), while others easily qualify beyond the original 10 films.

But keep this in mind: it’s a subjective list. People have different tastes, sometimes finding value in unusual places – after all, who doesn’t have a “guilty pleasure” or two? While reading these lists, it’s wise to see where people were coming from, not criticize them for having an opinion you don’t share.

What makes these films “mind-blowing,” anyway?

Most likely, there was at least one moment where you began to think differently. Whether you went there alone or with a theater of people, no one can take that trip away from you.

American Films

1. 12 Angry Men
2. 12 Monkeys
3. 13th Floor, The
4. 1408
5. 2001: A Space Odyssey
6. Adaptation
7. After Hours
8. AI
9. Altered States
10. American Beauty
11. American History X
12. American Psycho
13. Andromeda Strain
14. Angel Heart
15. Apocalypse Now
16. Arlington Road
17. Army of Darkness
18. Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Robert Ford, The
19. Ballad of Jack and Rose, The
20. Baraka
21. Bedazzled (1967, 2000)
22. Before Sunrise
23. Before Sunset
24. Being John Malkovich
25. Being There
26. Bermuda Depths, The
27. Bicentennial Man
28. Birth
29. Blade Runner
30. Blood Simple
31. Blue Velvet
32. Boy and His Dog, A
33. Bride to Terabithia
34. Buffalo 66
35. Butterfly Effect, The
36. Castaway
37. Cement Garden
38. Center of the World
39. Children of Men
40. Chopper
41. Citizen Kane
42. Clockwork Orange, A
43. Closer
44. Code 46
45. Colossus: The Forbin Project
46. Coma
47. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
48. Constantine
49. Contact
50. Cool Hand Luke
51. Crank
52. Crash
53. Cube Zero
54. Cypher
55. Dancer in the Dark
56. Dawn of the Dead
57. Day of the Dead
58. Day the Earth Stood Still, The
59. Dead Man
60. Deer Hunter, The
61. Defending Your Life
62. Déjà vu
63. Demon Seed
64. Diary of the Dead
65. Diary of the Dead 2
66. Dr. Strangelove
67. Dude, Where’s My Car?
68. Easy Rider
69. Ed Wood
70. Elephant
71. Elephant Man
72. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
73. Equilibrium
74. Eraserhead
75. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
76. eXistenZ
77. Exorcist, The
78. Eyes Wide Shut
79. Face in the Crowd, A
80. Fahrenheit 451
81. Fail-safe
82. Falling Down
83. Femme Fatale
84. Fifth Element, The
85. Finding Neverland
86. Five Easy Pieces
87. Forest, The
88. Forrest Gump
89. Fountain, The
90. Four Rooms
91. Frequency
92. Full Metal Jacket
93. Funny Games
94. Game, The
95. Gattaca
96. Girl, Interrupted
97. Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The
98. Graduate, The
99. Green Mile, The
100. Groundhog Day
101. Gummo
102. Happening, The
103. Harold and Kumar Escape Guantanamo Bay
104. Heart of Darkness
105. Hemp for Victory
106. Hostel
107. I, Robot
108. Identity
109. Idiocracy
110. In Dreams
111. Inherit the Wind
112. Inland Empire
113. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
114. IT
115. Jacket, The
116. Jacob’s Ladder
117. Joe Versus the Volcano
118. Kill Bill
119. Kill Bill 2
120. Kiss of the Spiderwoman
121. K-Pax
122. Land of the Dead
123. Life of David Gale, The
124. Liquid Sky
125. Lord of the Rings
126. Lord of War
127. Lost Highway
128. Love, Liza
129. Machinist, The
130. Man From Earth, The
131. Mars Attacks!
132. Memento
133. Men in Black
134. Metropolis
135. Milagro Beanfield War, The
136. Miracle Mile
137. Mothman Prophecies
138. Mulholland Drive
139. My Dinner with Andre
140. Naked Lunch
141. Natural Born Killers
142. Nell
143. Night of the Hunter
144. Night of the Living Dead
145. Nines, The
146. Ninth Configuration, The
147. Nirvana
148. No Country for Old Men
149. Omega Man
150. One Hour Photo
151. Othello
152. Others, The
153. Pan’s Labyrinth
154. Parallax View
155. Party Monster
156. Peaceful Warrior, The
157. Pi
158. Pink Floyd: The Wall
159. Planet of the Apes
160. Prestige, The
161. Primer
162. Psycho
163. Pulp Fiction
164. Punch Drunk Love
165. Pursuit of Happyness
166. Putney Swope
167. Quiet Earth, The
168. Razor’s Edge, The
169. Repo Man
170. Requiem for a Dream
171. Reservoir Dogs
172. Revolver
173. Rollerball
174. Royal Tenenbaums, The
175. Running Scared
176. Running with Scissors
177. Rushmore
178. Saving Private Ryan
179. Scanner Darkly, A
180. Seconds
181. Seven
182. Seventh Seal, The
183. Shawshank Redemption
184. Shining, The
185. Silence of the Lambs, The
186. Silent Running
187. Sin City
188. Six Ways to Sunday
189. Sixth Sense, The
190. Slaughterhouse Five
191. SLC Punk!
192. Sleuth
193. Sliding Doors
194. Snatch
195. Society
196. Sorry, Haters
197. Southland Tales
198. Straight Story, The
199. Strange Days
200. Stranger than Fiction
201. Talk Radio
202. Tarnation
203. Taxi Driver
204. Team America: World Police
205. Terminator
206. Thank You for Smoking
207. They Live
208. This Is Spinal Tap
209. THX 1138
210. Total Recall
211. Toys
212. Trainspotting
213. Trigger Effect, The
214. Truckers
215. Unbreakable
216. Usual Suspects, The
217. V for Vendetta
218. Vanilla Sky
219. Vanishing Point
220. Videodrome
221. Village, The
222. Wag the Dog
223. Waking the Dead
224. Watership Down
225. What Dreams May Come
226. What the Bleep Do We Know?
227. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?
228. Where the Buffalo Roam
229. Wicker Man
230. Wild Bunch, The
231. Wisdom of Crocodiles, The
232. Wristcutters: A Love Story
233. Zombie Strippers

Foreign Films

• 23
• 8½
• Amores Perros
• Audition
• Avalon
• Bad Boy Bubby
• Baise-Moi
• Bliss
• Blowup
• Blue Spring
• Breaking the Waves
• Carandiru
• Cashback
• Chungking Express
• Cidade de Deus (City of God)
• Cube
• Cube 2
• Dancer in the Dark
• Death Note: The Movie
• Delicatessen
• Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man)
• Dot the I
• Dreams
• El Topo
• Europe Trilogy
• Festen
• Following
• Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby
• Funky Forest
• He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
• Human Traffic
• Idi i Smotri (Come and See)
• Irréversible
• Kontroll
• La Cité des Enfants Perdus (The City of Lost Children)
• La Double Vie de Veronique
• La Trilogie
• Le Decalogue
• Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain
• Life is Beautiful
• Man Bites Dog
• Mathilde
• Mbi (We)
• Microcosmos: Le Peuple de l’Herbe
• Mitt Liv Som Hund (My Life as a Dog)
• Motorcycle Diaries, The
• No Smoking
• Oldboy
• Once Were Warriors
• Open Your Eyes
• Romance
• Run Lola Run
• Sans Soleil
• Santa Sangre
• Seul contre tous (I Stand Alone)
• Shine
• Spoorloos (the original of the Vanishing)
• Stalker
• Sweet Movie
• Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
• Tae-Guki (Brotherhood)
• Tetsuo: The Iron Man, The
• The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover
• Holy Mountain, The
• Quatermass Xperiment, The
• Science of Sleep, The
• Tin Drum, The
• Tricouleur or Blue, White, Red
• Visitor Q
• Walkabout
• Y Tu Mamá También

Anime

• Akira
• Ghost in the Machine
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion
• Paprika
• Perfect Blue
• Serial Experiments Lain
• Tekkonkinkreet

Now there can’t possibly be any worthy movies excluded from the list…or are there? Share in the comments!

Feature photo Sbishop

For the last few years, I have been looking for a solid list of travel songs that doesn’t seem too cliche.

However, the lists always end up naming On The Road Again, and These Boot Were Made For Walking as ideal songs for the road.

I’m not sure if it is a lack of creativity, or a lack of knowledge that pushes people to recycle the same list over and over. I don’t really care anymore. Instead of sitting around and complaining about the content of internet travel song lists, I’ve decided to create my own.

I’m 100% sure that I will miss a lot of really good songs. I’m also positive that a lot of people will disagree with me, but that’s the nature of the beast.

If I missed something that you love, post it in a comment, and I’ll see about adding it to the list. I can already think of a few songs that don’t really belong, but I’ll be damned if I was going to put On The Road Again on the list.

Here they are in no particular order:

This Time Tomorrow by The Kinks

Hmm, I wonder why I put this on the list…maybe because it was on Darjeeling Limited. Okay, that might be a little cliche…but, I never said I wasn’t a hypocrite.

Aufstehn by Seeed

I couldn’t tell you if this song actually has anything to do with travel, but I fell in love with Seeed while in Germany for the World Cup. Therefore, every time I hear this song, I think “Maybe its time to travel again.”

Starlight by Muse

“Far away from the memories of the people who care if I live or die” … Need I say more.

Paper Planes by M.I.A.

I love this song. It has a sample from The Clash. Kids Singing. A Great message. And the singer is from Sri Lanka. We don’t usually get too many Sri Lankan acts here in the states…but after her, I wish we had more.

If I Ever Leave This World Alive by Flogging Molly

I’ve seen these guys 6 times (Going on 7 this October 19th), and they never get old. They always put on an amazing show, and leave me feeling energized and a little bit drunk. My love for the band aside, they also travel more than any band I have ever known. From Japan to Finland, from Los Angeles to Germany, these guys are perpetually on the road.

Gyasi Went Home by Bedouin Soundclash

Not only is the song very catchy, but the video will make you want to book a trip to Guyana immediately. I especially love that the video gives a little background on the song.

Wanderlust King by Gogol Bordello

Gogol Bordello speaks to the gypsy in all of us. I for one want to visit Kiev right now. If you like the video, check out the movie The Pied Piper of Hutzovina.

Amsterdam by Peter, Bjorn and John

Basically, this song is about Amsterdam. What better reason do I need to place this on my list.

Mama Africa by Akon

Every time I hear this song, I get an overwhelming urge to book a flight to Senegal.

Gone Till November by Wyclef Jean

Though I’m not in the drug trade, I still wouldn’t mind being gone till November…next November.

Around The World by Daft Punk

I’m pretty sure this one is obvious.

Hard Sun by Eddie Vedder

Basically, this song reminds me of Into The Wild…which makes me want to hit the road.

Tiny Dancer by Elton John

Two words…Almost Famous.

Les Champs-Elysees by Joe Dassin

If you love this song…you’ve got to hear it on vinyl, it’s tops.

Over The Hills And Far away by Led Zeppelin

Currently, I’m sitting behind my desk, wishing I was Over The Hills And Far Away…Sorry for being corny. I’m more like my dad every day.

Breakdown by Jack Johnson

Normally, I wouldn’t throw a Jack Johnson song on a list like this…but this song is just too damn good, and i love the imagery.

New Shoes by Paolo Nutini

I first heard Paolo in Thailand two years ago…there was a music video channel in one of our rooms, and they were playing his videos all night. I can’t help but love his songs, they remind me of paradise.

With My Own Two Hands by Ben Harper

Ben gives us a good reminder that we can make a difference out there in the world, all we’ve got to do is try.

Penny On The Train Track by Ben Kweller

Every time I hear this song, I want to get out there and tramp around the good old US of A. Plus, I love that he has his grandma dancing in his video…for real.

Beautiful Day by U2

This one just makes me happy, and I love Bono…The King of Ireland. Damn, Tina Fey is funny.

Blowin’ In The Wind by Sam Cooke

There are many versions of this song, but I just prefer Sam Cooke’s.

Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan

Admittedly, this is a bit cliche, but I can get away with it…at least the rest of my list is original.

Green Onions by Booker T and the MGs

If you can listen to this and not want to hit the road, I’ll give you 500 bonus points.

Chicago Falcon by The Budos Band

Pop this porn groove on your iPod, stroll through a market, and feel like a bad mutha…shut your mouth…I’m just talkin bout The Budos Band.

Always Where I Need To Be by The Kooks

This was just an excuse to get The Kooks on my list…that’s the beauty of creating your own lists, you can do whatever you want.

I hope my list makes you happy. If not, you can create your own list, and we’ll have a travel song list battle!

Shooting the doc / Photo filmmakers

One of the biggest oil booms in U.S. history is now underway around the town of Stanley, North Dakota.

North Dakota doesn’t normally get a lot of attention, but last summer two young Matador members traveled to Stanley to make a film about the oil boom. The footage they shot is truly striking, and “Crude Independence” will no doubt be an important record of this moment in American history.

Filmmakers Noah Hutton and Sara Kendall recently chatted with BNT co-editor Tim Patterson about their experience shooting “Crude Independence” in boom-town North Dakota.

Tim: How did you initially decide to shoot a documentary in North Dakota?

Noah: I first heard about the oil boom in North Dakota when I read an article about it in the New York Times published in January. It was not a very lengthy piece but it caught my attention right away. I had a feeling there was a film to be made.

I was still on winter break from school so a few days later I flew from New York to Minneapolis, rented a car off of Craigslist because I wasn’t yet 21, and drove to the small town of Stanley, North Dakota.

After shooting some location footage and talking to farmers, oil workers, and local officials, I came back to the east coast and spent the spring raising money to make the film.

I knew from the moment I got out of the car in North Dakota that this was a story worth telling.

Sarah: How often do you have those conversations that start with the phrase, “Wouldn’t it be cool if…?”

It wasn’t until Noah called me on his way to North Dakota that I realized he was driven enough-and impulsive enough-to actually make this happen.

Later that semester I was awarded a research grant through my college to spend the month with him, helping him with the film while also working on a piece of creative nonfiction about our project.

Tim: Did you have an idea of the movie you wanted to make before you went, or did the story evolve in unexpected ways?

Oil pumper at sunset / Photo filmmakers

Noah: I knew I wanted to take a human angle on the oil boom– to explore how lives are changing because of the discovery of a resource so far below the surface.

I wanted to talk to farmers who own the rights to the minerals under their property, those that do not own their rights, the landmen researching mineral deeds in the county courthouse, and the oil workers themselves who crowd the bars, motels, and jails.

The unexpected evolution of the story was driven by the characters we met along the way. As much typecasting as we did ahead of time, we tried to be as open and flexible as possible to what unfolded while we were there.

We ended up finding some ecstatic moments– from a boisterous group interview with out-of-state oil workers behind a local bar to a late afternoon spent with local farmer and oil well owner John Warberg, who showed us the original wooden shack that his grandparents homesteaded in when they arrived with the first wave of Norwegian emigrants to North Dakota over one hundred years ago.

They never had a water well, but now the decayed windows look out upon Warberg’s oil well.

There were also memorable situations we created for ourselves, like the night Sara and I crawled through a wheat field to sneak footage of a drilling rig. There’s perhaps six seconds of that footage in the film but it was certainly worth the thrill.

Sara: Noah had articulated a pretty clear vision for the film, but it was based on the idea that our story would be driven, more than anything, by the experiences of people living and working in Stanley.

In that way, the project demanded a certain amount of flexibility that we found as exciting as it was maddening.

And while our initial vision never changed all that drastically, at some point our footage definitely started to take on a sense of authenticity and humanity-I’m picturing our friend Leroy, a landman, singing karaoke at the local bar and winking at our camera.

Moments like that were impossible to anticipate.

Tim: Sara, you grew up in Manhattan, and Noah, you’re a student at one of the more liberal colleges on the East Coast. Was there some culture shock to deal with in North Dakota? Were you able to really connect with locals and roughneck oil workers? How?

Noah: We anticipated a culture shock, but I can’t say it ever happened.

You have a beer, play some pool and sing some karaoke with the oil workers and all of a sudden where you’re from doesn’t matter–it’s about whether or not you’re willing to have a good time.

I have to say that the transparent and down-to-earth values of many of the people we met in North Dakota were very appealing to me.

It doesn’t take much to connect on a basic human level with honest people.

Sara: The disorientation I felt had more to do with the landscape than the culture, I think. The sky was bigger than I’d ever believed possible, and the winds were more severe. It was a geology stripped bare, and it couldn’t have felt further from the anonymity of a big city.

There was also a different culture of food, and at some point— I think after a few days of eating only chicken burgers and cheese burgers at the restaurant in town– I started to dream of fresh vegetables.

Tim: I’m not surprised you guys got along with the locals while shooting the film – that sense of unguarded authenticity really comes through in the trailer.

Another feeling I get from the trailer is an eerie sort of foreboding, often associated with the tools of oil production. No doubt your audience has very mixed feelings about energy companies like Halliburton, in light of global warming, oil wars and government corruption.

Did you have any assumptions about oil production when you arrived in North Dakota, and how did they evolve while making the movie?

Filmmakers Noah and Sam

Sara: That’s a complicated question. I definitely have a knee-jerk reaction to big name oil companies like Halliburton, and I can’t help but connect the sight of a drilling rig to the invisible structures of corporate greed and power so embedded in the oil industry.

But our goal was to focus on the social impact of the oil boom, the human experience on a local level, rather than taking any sort of overt political stance.

We learned quickly that holding onto a certain amount of neutrality would allow us to hear a much wider range of perspectives— I can’t tell you how many times we were asked if we were making an environmentalist movie, as if the e-word were some kind of slur.

So it was important to us that we approach people working for the oil companies as people effected by the boom rather than as characters through whom we could push an agenda.

Still, my general sense of corruption and gluttony in the oil industry went pretty unchallenged. We didn’t have the most positive relationships with oil company officials, who consistently ignored us or turned down our pleas for access to a drilling rig.

Although I left with an understanding of the growth and opportunities that come with a boom, I also have a more intimate sense of the possibility for economic collapse — the inevitable bust.

Noah: I don’t have anything to add to Sara’s last response. I think she nailed it.

Tim: What did you learn from the people of Stanley, North Dakota that you hope to communicate to the people who watch your film?

Noah: I have no generalizations to make about the people of Stanley, North Dakota, because everyone is handling this situation in their own specific way, and I think our film communicates that point.

The central issue of the film–what drove us to make it and what I hope people respond to–is the question of how a natural resource so far below can so dramatically affect life on the surface.

I can say generally that the people of Stanley were incredibly welcoming to us, and most were more than willing to give us interviews and show us around. I think the film reflects that welcoming spirit. We were able to include a very diverse collection of voices from the community.

Sara: Noah’s right. It made our job a bit more difficult, but it was impossible to generalize or simplify the range of voices we heard in Stanley.

Instead of trying to wrap things up into any one lesson or argument, we wanted to communicate the impossibility of doing exactly that. I think, in the end, it’s that embrace of multiplicity that will make viewers feel like they can relate to the community of people they see in the film.

On the other hand, we were asked by a few local residents in Stanley to convey one message in particular— that everyone should buy more canola oil— because canola is one of the main crops grown in western North Dakota.

Tim: Buy more canola oil, right on. Thanks for chatting guys, all of us at Matador can’t wait for the film.

Community Connection!

Do you have a question for the filmmakers? Please join the conversation by leaving a comment below, or check out Sara and Noah’s Matador profiles.

Christopher Rufo and Keith Ochwat / Roughing It Creators

Drinking and travel tend to go hand in hand.

Think of Munich and you can’t help but envision Oktoberfest. Imagine Russia, you inevitably conjure up endless rounds of vodka. Japan equals sake; Mexico, tequila; Italy, wine; Scotland, Scotch.

As Christopher Rufo and Keith Ochwat will tell you, Mongolia means fermented horse’s milk.

Christopher and Keith abandoned their careers in order to travel to northern Asia with nothing but a backpack and some camera equipment. The result is the riveting PBS documentary Roughing It: Mongolia.

Filmed by Christopher and hosted by Keith, Roughing It: Mongolia encompasses everything from traditional throat singing to reindeer herding to a local wedding to the country’s aforementioned national drink.

National Geographic’s standout Intelligent Travel blog, praised the duo for “succeed[ing] in capturing honest scenes with unique personalities,” and the New York Times noted that both men have “a good eye for the unusual.”

With a future series encompassing the South Pacific in the works for PBS, we recently spoke with both Christopher and Keith about the inspiration for Roughing It.

BNT: In a previous interview at BNT, travel writer David Farley said:

“I think because the suburbs were so sterile and so aesthetically redundant, I developed a passion for putting myself in environments that were antipodal to where I grew up. I didn’t know that I wanted to be a travel writer at the time, but this was when I vowed to create a life for myself that involved as much travel and as little routine as possible.”

Would you say that’s how you fell into traveling and travel documentaries as well?

Shooting the herd / Photo Rouging It

CR: I’m not sure that’s exactly it. In my travels abroad, I’ve met a lot of Westerners who seem to have totally rejected their home countries.

I just can’t understand this attitude. The more I travel abroad, the more I discover my appreciation for the United States. Keith and I grew up together in Sacramento, California, and, despite its drawbacks and relative sterility, we both love spending time there.

Travel is not so much a rejection of home as the desire to go beyond it. If anything, it’s the ease of suburban life that needs to be escaped from time to time.

Whenever I’m sick or frustrated during a journey, I remind myself that the word “travel” comes from the French travaille, meaning “to work” or “to toil.” There is a lot of wisdom in this etymology.

BNT: You started Roughing It with a focus on Mongolia; why did you pick that country in particular?

KO: Our goal with the Roughing It series is to travel to the world’s most remote and exotic places, and tell stories that have not been told to a broad American audience.

Chris and I have chosen travel destinations in the past by literally throwing a dart at a map, but we put a bit more thought into choosing our inaugural Roughing It location.

Originally, we were considering a program taking us and our viewers along the Trans-Siberian Railway. As Chris and I mulled over the possibility of spending weeks on a train, we thought focusing on one area would be a better fit and a more pleasant experience.

We chose Mongolia. It’s a remote country that most people know very little about, including ourselves at the time, and when we heard that Mongolia’s national alcohol is fermented horse milk, it sealed the deal.

BNT: Why the medium of film over, say, a travel book? Were either of you film majors?

CR: Neither of us studied film, and I think, in the end, it’s better that way. Some people can really thrive in a film school environment, but just as many can be stifled.

If you have passion and a vision, I think the technical knowledge will come quickly.

As far as the medium, there is a strong prejudice against the travel film as somewhat inferior to other forms of documentary. For a long time, too, travel writing was seen as sub-literary. When people heard “travel writing,” they thought guidebooks and information for tourists.

That changed in the 1970s and 1980s with writers like Colin Thubron, Paul Theroux, and Bruce Chatwin. Chatwin used to go into bookstores and see his books next to “Maui on a Shoestring.” He thought, rightly, that his books should be under Literature.

And, after some time, book publishers, sellers, reviewers, and readers started to agree with him.

I think the travel documentary is behind travel literature by about 30 years. It’s still stuck in “Maui on a Shoestring” and “Eat a Live Scorpion.” The one major exception is Michael Palin. His Himalaya, in particular, was a major influence for us.

In Mongolia, we would always joke: “What would Palin do?” When I look back at the film, it’s clear that we weren’t joking. Palin’s influence is definitely there, and I’m happy with it.

BNT: Who are your inspirations for travel? What travel writers are on your bookshelves?

Boy and his horse / Photo Rouging It

CR: Personally, I’m definitely more influenced by travel writers than travel filmmakers. There are filmmakers and photographers who inspire me visually–Cartier-Bresson is an influence, as is Werner Herzog.

More recently, the cinematography in Sean Penn’s Into the Wild was incredible. But, with Palin being the exception, it’s the travel writers who are really creating something meaningful and lasting.

People talk a lot about “travel attitude,” and I couldn’t think of a better one than Colin Thubron’s. He’s so impressive and erudite, and at the same time so humble and self-effacing. His book In Siberia is a masterpiece.

He captures the most incredible details and characters, and holds it all together with tight thematic interests and larger socio-historical questions. Erudition, adventure, poetic sensibility–he really sets the gold standard.

BNT: In other interviews, you’ve alluded to interviewing Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar. How did that not manage to make it into the final cut?

KO: Roughing It: Mongolia was originally intended to be an hour long program.

What we found as we shopped around our program to PBS and other distributors was that the strengths of our program and what sets ours apart from other travel shows is not the scenes where I was interviewing the President, or the leading religious figure in Mongolia.

Rather Roughing It really stood out in the scenes where we focus on interacting with Mongolians-when I try throat singing with a local throat singing group, when I camp out with nomadic reindeer herders, when I pathetically attempt to dethrone a provincial wrestling champion.

So after months and months of editing, and re-editing, we ultimately decided to make the show a half hour program focusing on the most interactive scenes, which were also the scenes that present viewers with the most candid window into Mongolian culture.

But don’t worry; our DVD has all the deleted scenes including our interview with the Mongolian Head of State.

BNT: Also on the topic of scenes that were cut, who won in the wrestling match between Keith and Olympic silver medalist Jamstying Davaajav?

KO: After my match with the provincial wrestling champion at the Naadam festival, I felt like I needed a few pointers so that next time around I wouldn’t walk away with a skinned knee and teary eyes. Who better to get wrestling tips from then Mongolia’s most accomplished Olympian?

The problem was that my ‘lesson’ was more of barrage of throws that left me flat on my back pretty much the entire time. I will say though, and Chris can substantiate this, Jamstying complimented me on my strong arms.

BNT: You seemed to travel with a light, even nomadic load while in Mongolia. What do you absolutely have to have? What’s one item you’ve left behind that you normally would feel glued to?

KO: Whenever I travel, I relish in the fact that I get to escape my cell phone. With all the calls Chris and I have had to make in promoting Roughing It and getting the series off the ground, I feel like it’s just another appendage.

Traveling light is an absolute must when you’re on the move as much as we had to be during production. I pity those backpackers who have bags strapped to their bodies that look as big as them.

When I’m packing my essentials, I never forget some pepto bismol, a good book, and my journal.

BNT: Finally, what’s up next for Roughing It?

CR: Right now, we’re in development for an eight-part PBS series called Roughing It: The Great Pacific.

We’re going to shoot more verité and really bring up our production value. And, most importantly, we’ll continue to find the most interesting people in the places we visit and tell their stories in the most compelling way.

It’s going to be six months of adventure through some of the most exotic and remote countries on the planet: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor. We’re expecting a Fall 2009 release.

In the meantime, I’m finishing up production on a feature documentary called Diamond in the Dunes, which is the story of a Muslim baseball team in China’s Far West. We hope to start the festival circuit early next year.

Learn more about Roughing It: Mongolia and even watch a few video clips.

Brook Silva-Braga, filmmaker

The story goes like this: Emmy winning producer Brook Silva-Braga left his cushy gig with the TV network HBO to travel the world with five pounds of clothes and 30 pounds of video equipment.

He left because he wanted to experience the “round-the-world” trip, before life caught up with him and the window of opportunity would be lost forever.

Brook documented the entire journey, and created the soulful film about the experience – titled A Map For Saturday.

I confess. I didn’t want to like the film before I watched it. On some level, I felt the world of backpacking was selfishly my own. To have a filmmaker delve into this world, on his own journey of discovery, felt like he was encroaching on my own experiences.

Turns out: the film is excellent. Beautifully shot. Artfully edited. And profiles what life is truly like on the road.

I felt compelled to contact Brook for an interview about his film. Here’s what we discussed.

BNT: What was the hardest part about deciding to leave your job and travel the world?

Brook: There weren’t negative judgments, really. Everyone was supportive, they just all had reasons why it wasn’t right for them. The only reason I could think of not to go was the damage it could do to the career I’d been working for.

So making the documentary was a way to not feel like I was totally throwing that career away. Overall the decision wasn’t that hard. I got it in my head that an around-the-world trip was something I had to do before I died and this was the best time to do it.

Were there certain pre-conceptions you had about long-term travel and life on the road, that turned out to be totally different than you expected?

I thought it would all be a lot harder than it was. One of the first revelations of my trip was how easy long-term travel can be. The flip side was the loneliness I sometimes felt and probably didn’t fully expect before I left.

Curious children and the camera / Photo Brook Silva-Braga

Which came first, the idea for the trip, or the idea for the documentary?

Like I said, the documentary was really just a way to convince myself the trip wasn’t such a professionally destructive enterprise.

It was a bit of a fools bargain though because these types of independent films have a lot of trouble finding an audience. My ignorance was probably really helpful and I just ended up getting really lucky that it did so well.

What were the biggest challenges of carrying all the gear with you on the road?

Well it meant I had to be pretty ruthless with my packing of “discretionary items.” I only had about five pounds of clothes and no tent or even sleeping bag. But I found there’s almost nothing you can’t get by without.

At one point in your film, you talk about how Americans are conditioned to “binge vacation” – that is, cramming their escape into 2 weeks per year, before coming back to the daily grind. Why do you think Americans trade their free time for money/job security?

It’s in our culture. I read awhile ago that the hourly productivity of American and European workers is equal but we’re richer largely because we work more hours.

I just came from Africa where there’s clearly a prioritizing of free time over work despite the poor economic conditions so many Africans face.

There’s no simple way to explain why one culture develops one way or another, just look at how much more common long-term travel is for Canadians than Americans despite all the connections between the U.S. and Canada.

But America’s hard work has given us a prosperity that allows us to enjoy more free time if we curtail our consumption. The lure of consumption must be great (or perhaps people are unaware of the joys of personal time) because there sure is a lot consuming going on.

Who benefits from pushing that type of mentality?

Well you seem to be leading me towards an economic/sociological judgment that I’m probably not qualified to make. On a macro scale, certainly our country’s economic strength has been created by the commitment to work (and consumption) of Americans. My personal experience though is that I’m happier when I work and consume a bit less.

What’s the most effective way to show other people that long-term travel isn’t so scary?

Well I suppose it depends on the type of fear. My sister is afraid of dirty hostel bathrooms. Some friends are afraid of not having a home to return to at night, or a job to go back to at the end of their trip.

To me the most powerful evidence in support of long-term travel is this: I’ve never met someone who gave it a try and didn’t like it. It’s only people who don’t go who can list all the problems with it.

You’ve just got back from a 5 month trip to Africa working on your next documentary. Any hint as to what’s it’s about?

Yeah, its going to be called “One Day in Africa” and follow five or six people from different parts of the continent on a single day in their life.

There’s a college student, a rural farmer, an expecting mother. My hope is to show a more nuanced version of life in Africa than the devastatingly dire or falsely hopeful stories we see so often.

It should hit film festivals in early ‘09 and a trailer should make it to cyberspace this fall. I need to go edit!

For more Brooke Silva-Braga, check out his personal site and the film A Map For Saturday.

Feature image by Jay Russell

It was a Monday morning in May of 1969 and the then-14-year-old Levitan should have been getting ready to go to school.

Instead he grabbed his brother’s Super-8 camera and at 7am headed downtown to the King Edward Hotel where he had a sneaking suspicion John Lennon might be after hearing the Beatle had been spotted the night before at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.

Levitan entered the hotel, zoomed up to the top floor, and knocked on every door, hoping one would lead to the musical icon he’d always dreamed of meeting. A housekeeper saw him and asked if he was looking for ‘the Beatle.’

He said he was and she directed him to another room a few floors down. He saw Yoko Ono’s daughter Kyoko playing outside one of the rooms and knew he’d found “the centre of all things.”

Read the full article from CityNews.

If that wasn’t enough food for thought, consider this quote from Steven Yates in “The Boiling Frog Syndrome,” where he mirrors John in describing the problem with violent revolutions:

Large scale revolutions attempting to change all the institutions of society at once make it impossible for anyone – including the revolutionaries – to plan rationally. This is why, with very rare exceptions such as our own War for American Independence, they tend to leave everything worse off than it was before…

Thus revolutions tend to bring about bloody dictatorships rather than improved social systems by forcing abrupt change on entire, complex societies (political arrangements, economic relations, etc., at multiple levels) and they destabilize everything.

Relations that have formed over generations are suddenly broken apart. Human beings, like all systems, dislike instability intensely. In practice, they will turn to the first person who promises to restore stability to the system, and that person is usually a dictator who clamps down on the entire society from the center.

What do you think of Lennon’s thoughts on creating sustainable peace? Share in the comments!

Music not for the timid / Photo egorsechin

Summer’s here. Time to escape the winter den and go someplace balmy. The bags are packed, tickets in hand…

…but wait. Which tunes are you taking?

You’ve got your standard playlists, your custom-mix CDs at the top of your backpack where you can grab ‘em without looking.

Somehow, it seems a little… known. Ben Harper’s catalog is practically tattooed on your eardrums, and the Jack Johnson disk you fell in love to will wear completely through if you play it…one…more…time.

Do your playlists have that “Stairway to Heaven” feel? Concerned that half your favorites are on the classic rock station? Time to dive into your rarities vault and bring up something… distinctive.

Hidden Gems

When someone asks about your music – sure, you can play it safe and rattle off some universal favorites. But it’s a prelude to intimacy to share your hidden treasures, a statement that says “it may not be popular, but it means something to me.”

The question “what music would you bring to a desert island?” is like a test – it’s hard to be completely honest. But asking, “which of your favorite music do you wish everyone knew about?” will get a totally different response.

Everyone’s music library has its singular, offbeat gems the rest of the world should know about yet somehow doesn’t. Does it flabbergast you that some incredible music is widely unknown?

Open a window in the music department and shout it out! It may be quirky, obscure or nowhere near cutting edge – who cares? And if you want to experiment on your musical journey, explore some audio landscapes from the reader responses.

Here’s a baker’s dozen to spice up your trip, perhaps start a conversation or two….

P.S. Haters who want to trash other people’s tastes needn’t respond. Disagreement is fine, but only if done with class, courtesy and respect. Please be fair.

WARNING: Some links are NSFW (Not Safe For Work)!

Lords of Acid

1. Lords of Acid

2. Praga Khan

Effin’ decadence. The Lords of Acid are the musical equivalent of having your clothes torn off by a band of sex-crazed coeds – a bit shocking at first, but soon you think there’s a pretty good idea here. Quoth a fan: “Pum Pum.”

The name says it all: sex and drugs. Techno and metal weld together amazingly well, but the human element gives it its pulse: a live (non-machine) drummer, a guitarist in a leather gimp mask, and lead singer Deb Ostrega… ah, Europe.

Let’s just say she leaves nothing to the imagination. The result is flat out, adrenalized fun.

Best albums: Voodoo-U, Lust, Farstucker

Composer Praga Khan has numerous solo albums. His work launched a thousand synths back in the day; few will ever catch up.

Best albums: Pragamatic, Twenty-First Century Skin

3. The Specials

The Specials are a blast. Prog rock stations never play near enough of these ska legends. Leave Bob Marley at home this time: if someone begs to hear something other than “Legend,” pop this on. If someone hasn’t asked “who’s this?” within 10 seconds, it’s not loud enough. Great party music, and the lyrics are hysterical. And they’ve recently reunited!

Best album: The Specials

4. Cocteau Twins

Elizabeth Frazier has one of the most incredible voices you’ll never understand. Her lyrics are a combination of obscure dictionary words and echolalia. What comes through is a light, brilliant sound that accomplishes one of the lost arts of rock: melody. These compositions are saturated pop, turned sideways – you’ll regret not knowing what she’s saying because it’s so fascinatingly, achingly pretty. Watch a video

Best albums: Blue Bell Knoll, Heaven or Las Vegas, The Pink Opaque, Four-Calendar Café, Peppermint Pig

Ministry

5. Ministry

Korn, dude! KORRRNN! only wishes they were Ministry. After years of pushing dozens of envelopes – and injecting their contents – Al Jourgensen is lucky he’s still alive. Where he’s been is presented in industrial form: a political beast that broods before it turns loose. Ministry’s farewell tour is this summer. Tune in your “trembling earballs” to hear why that’s our loss.

Best albums: Greatest Fits, The Land of Rape and Honey, The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste

6. Emmylou Harris

Waitaminute, is that country? Well, depends who you’re asking with the album Wrecking Ball. When Daniel Lanois, famous for his work with Peter Gabriel, teamed with country icon Emmylou Harris, the mixture was otherworldly – an ethereal quasi-country. Can you imagine her cover of Jimi Hendrix? Timed just right, it’ll knock you off your feet.

Best album: Wrecking Ball

7. Medicine

The best way to describe Medicine is “beautiful noise.” Maybe you caught that one song from The Crow soundtrack: make it a point to track down some more. It’s like Einstürzende Neubauten made friendly, but really there’s nothing like this.

Best albums: Shot Forth Self Living, Her Highness, The Buried Life

Air

8. Air

Sure, you heard them in that café in Europe. But did you listen to them while on a train trip? You can have a conversation with Air in the background, and come away with this relaxed vibe. And this duo’s music is constantly evolving. Stay tuned.

Best albums: Moon Safari, Premiers Symptomes, Talkie Walkie

9. Sister Soleil

Unfortunately, one of Chicago’s best-kept secrets. Stella Soleil’s band folded when she left for L.A. Her recent work flirts with the commercial, but her older stuff is stunning – a girl’s voice in a woman’s body. Captivating.

Best albums: Soularium, Drown Me in You

10. The Velvet Underground

11.Big Star

12. The Feelies

From the 60s, 70s and 80s respectively, these blasts from the past made untold thousands want to start their own bands, each in their own decade. There’s more going on here than meets the ear. This is some of rock’s smartest stuff.

13. Moodswings

It’s rare to find electronica that not only sounds good, but feels this good. Put this on your headphones, and the phrase “music bath” goes to a whole new level. Great to wake up to.

Best album: Moodfood

If you had your own radio station, what’s some of the quirky, “off the beaten track” music you’d be playing?

My English teacher once told me that good short stories were the ones that spoke to universal truths.

These were the stories that go beyond mere characters and their antics through an imaginary universe. They offer an insight into the human condition: what is life? what is truth? what is reality?

The same could be said for memorable films. Only films convey their meaning in a more sensory way – using both audio and visual elements to enter the mind of the viewer.

And perhaps even shift your perspective.

The following 10 films are chosen because they shed light on the forces at work within our lives, this very moment. They use satire and metaphor to approach the truths that would otherwise be too difficult to understand, or too terrifying to comprehend.

Most of all, these films challenge you to wake up.

The Truman Show (1998)

Jim Carrey plays Truman Burbank, the first child ever legally adopted by a corporation. His entire life is constructed inside a gigantic set, encompassing the picturesque town of SeaHaven. Everything is artificial — from the buildings, to the people, to the very sun above his head.

It’s too easy to call the film a satirical extension of “reality television.” Instead, Peter Weir deftly uses the motif of reality TV to present the “un-realities” of our own world. How the majority of us are psychologically controlled, through fear and comfort to, as Cristof says, “accept the reality of the world that we’re given.”

Read more: The Meaning Of The Truman Show

I Heart Huckabees (2004)

Imagine you were experiencing an existential crisis. But rather than work through it yourself, you hire existential detectives to help you track down the source of your suffering. Imagine one of those detectives is Dustin Hoffman with a bad haircut.

I Heart Huckabees is a quirky, rabbit hole of a film. Many of the characters, from the smarmy marketing executive (Jude Law), to the angry nihlistic firefighter (Mark Walberg) act out the various philosophies of the past thousand years.

Read more: Essay on I Heart Huckabees

Waking Life (2001)

What if you were chained in a dimly-lit cave your whole life where you saw only shadows of real things reflected on its back wall?

Suddenly you’re free and come into the sunlight. Would you recognize this new world as more real than your cave world? Would you be able to wake up?

Talk about a mind trip. Richard Linklater’s film Waking Life, is both visually beautiful and intellectually stimulating. The filmmakers use a ground-breaking technique (at the time) called ‘rotoscoping’ to colour over the images to create a dream-like animation.

Just a few of the ideas covered in unbroken dialogues: dreaming versus reality, existentialism, buddhism, situationism, post-modernism, the list goes on.

Read more: Essay on Waking Life

The Matrix (1999)

For obvious reasons, this was a paradigm-shifting film in the world of movies. But it also introduced a whole generation (myself included) to question the nature of reality. What is real? And how do you know it’s real?

The film’s other great contribution to mass society was the possibility that an unseen force is controlling our destiny. Morpheus reveals the ultimate truth that Neo’s mind can barely process: the Matrix is control. And the only way to break free? Open your mind.

Read more: Collection of essays on The Matrix

Dark City (1998)

Do you ever feel like you’re playing a role? Released 1 year before The Matrix, another film introduced the concept of a hidden beings controlling the destiny of humanity.

Dark City follows Rufus Sewell, a man framed for murder, as he’s pursued by faceless super beings that can manipulate time. Unfortunately for the beings, the protagonist is unwittingly gifted with their own powers of psychokinesis, and a challenge for domination ensues.

Read more: Dark City on Wikipedia

American Beauty (1999)

Horny suburban dad obsesses over his daughter’s friend, a vapid cheerleader. But there’s much more to this dark tale of the American dream gone awry.

Notable elements of this award-winning film include the dehumanizing effects of consumerism, the repressed sexuality of a gay military man, and the pot smoking defiance of Ricky Fitts, who sees the beauty of the entire universe in a single, swaying plastic bag.

Read more: American Beauty and the Idea Of Freedom

Fight Club (1999)

“Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives.”

Tyler Durden’s words ring true in this dark, angry look at young people’s failures to interact with the value system they’re expected to uphold. Far from being a manifesto for violence, the film is rumination on the lengths we will go to experience real emotion, even if it means (metaphorically) bashing someone’s head in.

Read more Fight Club: A Ritual Cure For The Spiritual Ailment Of American Masculinity

Donnie Darko (2001)

Sometimes, to make something better, you’ve got to burn it all down and start over. Such is the relationship between Graham Greene’s The Destructors, and the cult classic Donnie Darko.

The film seamlessly weaves together notions of God, the non-linear nature of time, mind-control, and the freakiest bunny mask you’ve ever seen. It may take multiple viewings to discern a few messages from this multi-layered flick, but each time around will be just as rewarding.

Read more: Essay on Donnie Darko

Brazil (1985)

A dystopian, black comedy, Brazil reveals the terrifying indifference of bureaucracy in a totalitarian state. Although director Terry Gilliam claims never to have read 1984, the themes are too similar to dismiss.

Sam Lowry, a government cog in their machine, habitually escapes his dead-end job by imagining a fantasy world of romantic struggles.

Unfortunately, the system roots out dissidents with fervour. The villains in the film are neither malicious nor sadistic, they are merely doing their jobs.

Read more: Analysis of Brazil

Network (1976)

The news stopped being about enlightening the masses a long time ago.

Instead, news attempts to portray a world view that allows those in power to stay in power. This is never more true than 30 years after the film Network was released, when Howard Beale proclaimed “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

He called for viewers everywhere to stand up, and demand democratic control over their lives once again. The irony is even more biting when it’s revealed democracy, along with nations, peoples, and countries, no longer exists. The only thing left: the global system of finance.

Read more: The Rise of the Superclass

What do you think of the films in the list? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Photo by Jaako

There’s a good reason many of us take an mp3 player with us when we travel. Music can transport us-back home, away from an overcrowded bus, or through a restless night.

Music helps us connect to others-to fellow travelers who might share our taste in songs and to locals who might not speak our language but can carry the rhythm.

For those of us with gypsy blood, music can speak to who we are and why it is that we can never seem to settle down. Music engenders a desire to see a new place, or to travel simply for the joy of the journey.

In the few minutes that a song lasts, the ember of wanderlust inside us can be stoked into a bonfire that can’t be ignored. Suddenly, we’re inspired to earn that money, book that flight, pack that bag–do whatever it takes to get back on the road.

So here I present thirty songs that best capture the spirit of travel.

Go ahead and load up your mp3 player, slip on your earphones, and crank up the tunes. Who knows where these songs will take you.

Songs About Place

Certain songs take you immediately to a specific place. They precisely capture somewhere you’ve been or inspire you to plan a trip to the locale forever locked in lyrics.

Other songs don’t name names, but in your mind, the place evoked by the tune is so exact you have no doubt what town, city, or country the singer is crooning about…until you meet another traveler who pictures an entirely different place every time that song is played.

1. Carolina in My Mind by James Taylor

Who doesn’t see that Carolina sunshine or feel that moonshine when this classic comes through the speakers? I certainly hear “the highway calling” each time this song appears on my play list.

2. Marrakesh Express by Crosby, Stills, and Nash

The vivid imagery of this song–colored cottons, charming cobras–brings this famed Moroccan city right to life. Can you resist its call?

3. Africa by Toto

Come on, I couldn’t leave this one off, could I? It’s classic.

4. Katmandu by Cat Stevens

Strange and bewildering is certainly one way to describe this town. If you’ve been there, I’m sure you can think of many other fitting adjectives.

5. Graceland by Paul Simon

On the surface, sure, it’s a song about Memphis, but I think we all have our own Graceland, that place where we go for reasons we can’t explain, with the hope of being well received.

6. We Danced Anyway by Deana Carter

In each of our histories, there’s that “happy little foreign town,” where we danced, laughed, and were in love with every minute of every day. It’s the place we find a way to go back to time and again, even if just in our memories.

7. Where the Streets Have No Name by U2

It’s the town not in any guidebook, the one you found when you got off the train at the wrong stop or surreptitiously shared a hostel room with someone who had just come from there. It’s the restaurant without a sign, the guestroom tucked away in a back alley, the beach you’ll never be able to find again…but will always remember.

Songs About How To Travel

A common maxim reminds us that it’s not the destination, but the journey that matters. If it’s about the journey, then the method of transportation is important.

By boat, by train, by foot, by car…the manner in which we travel plays a large role in the way in which we experience the world.

8. Proud Mary by CCR

Is it possible to listen to this song and not want to give up that “good job in the city” to “hitch a ride on a river boat queen”? Whether it’s on the Mississippi, the Amazon, the Nile, the Ganges, or some smaller, quieter river, boats are a great throwback way to travel.

9. City of New Orleans by Arlo Guthrie

I’m not sure you can call yourself a traveler if you’ve never made at least one trip by train, passing time playing cards with friends and watching the world pass outside your window.

Songs About the Reasons We Travel

We each have our private reasons for taking a trip, but there are common themes that link travelers.

Often we journey in search of something–ourselves, love, adventure, understanding, the place we belong. Sometimes we go simply because we can’t stand to stay where we are or because of an almost desperate urge for movement.

And in some cases, there is no reason. We travel simply because we are travelers.

Photo by Colin Gregory Palmer

10. Time to Move On by Tom Petty

Stay in one place too long and sometimes it really seems that you can feel the grass growing underfoot. That’s when you know for certain that it’s time to move on.

11. The World at Large by Modest Mouse

With the changing of seasons comes a desire for a change of scenery. The migrating instinct awakes in our souls.

12. America by Simon & Garfunkel

While every trip might be a search for somewhere new or different, it’s also true that every journey away from home is an opportunity to better understand the place from which we come.

13. Taking the Long Way Around by the Dixie Chicks

You have them – the friends who stayed at home and settled down. You look at their lives and can’t imagine finding happiness that way. They, on the other hand, look at your life and wonder why you always have to take “the long way around.” Different strokes, right?

14. The River by Garth Brooks

Some people are content to sit on the shorelines, but those of us who travel know that we’ve got to get out there and chance the rapids, dance in the tides, and follow the dream wherever it leads.

15. Fly Away from Here by Aerosmith

As Steven Tyler sings, “our hopes and dreams are out there somewhere.” We can stay where we are and hope our dreams come to us or we can go out and find that better place. I’m not seeing much of a choice here.

16. Free Bird by Lynrd Skynrd

If you live for that feeling of freedom that comes with arriving in a destination where no one knows you, there’s nothing in the world that can hold you down.

17. Ramble On by Led Zeppelin

Is it love that we’re all looking for as we ramble on? Maybe… though not necessarily romantic love. Love of a place, love of a time, love of life itself.

18. Here I Go Again by Whitesnake

Sometimes the road is lonely and the destination isn’t always clear, but the dream is always big enough to compel us to walk down that road time and time again.

19. Ramblin’ Man by the Allman Brothers

Trying to explain why you travel to those who’d rather stay in one place is often futile. You’re coming from places too far apart, so sometimes the best answer (and maybe the true answer) is simply that you were “born a ramblin’ man.”

Songs that Capture the Joy of Travel

At the end of the day, what most often inspires us to go is the ecstasy of travel, pure and simple. The frustrations of airports, the struggles with packing, and the tedium of days spent working all fade away when you set off on your journey.

Photo by Ash

20. Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude by Jimmy Buffett

Who hasn’t scanned the departures at the airport and recalled all the places that they’ve already been and made plans for the places still to be explored?

21. On the Road Again by Willie Nelson

Going places that you’ve never been, seeing things that you’ve never seen, making music with your friends…isn’t that what travel is all about?

22. A Good Day to Run by Darryl Worley

The only question this song leaves to ponder is: what day isn’t a good day to run?

23. Roam by the B-52’s

Fly the skies, see the seas, run around all the continents. Go ahead, roam without a care.

24. Come Away With Me by Norah Jones

I’m not sure it’s possible to resist this siren’s call to walk with her in yellow-grassed fields, to stand with her atop a mountain, to lie with her under a tin roof in the rain. It’s travel the romantic way.

25. Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz

Just think of all the places you would visit if you could fly, taking off with every whim. And travel without the hassle of the airport…I’m not sure it gets better than that.

26. Life is a Highway by Tom Cochrane

Windows down, gas tank full, an open road in front of you. This song demands that you sing along as you see the world from behind the wheel.

27. Wherever I May Roam by Metallica

When you’re able to find home on the road, you know that you’ve reached a new level of travel and you no longer care how the world defines you.

28. I’ve Been Everywhere by Johnny Cash

Though I’ve yet to actually meet anyone who can claim they’ve been everywhere, there certainly are a lot of people trying. Regardless of whether you like to hit as many spots as you can or take it slow and easy through one place, rambling through the many places listed in this song is always fun.

29. King of the Road by Roger Miller

Everybody wants to be king of something, and if you’re a traveler, there’s no better kingdom than the road.

30. Around the World by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

No arguing here. Life is indeed beautiful all around the world.

What songs would you add to the list? Share your picks in the comments!

A scene from “O Brother Where Art Thou?”

One traveling garden gnome. A star-crossed couple on a sinking ocean liner. Eleven crooks on a European heist. And Bond-James Bond.

These are just four of the travelers who didn’t make it onto our roundup of the twenty greatest travel films of all time. Not because we didn’t like Amelie, Titanic, Ocean’s 12 or the Bond movies, mind you, but because we just didn’t have the space.

Movies have the power to inspire, to take us on a trip without requiring us to get off the couch. And sometimes the most inspiring films aren’t really about travel at all.

Without further ado, here is BNT’s definitive list of the 20 greatest travel movies of all time.

The Inner Journey: Les Poupees russes and L’auberge Espagnole

These French films (both directed by Cedric Klapisch and both featuring the incandescent Audrey Tautou) follow the physical and mental travels of grad students (L’auberge) and, five years later,young professionals (Poupees).

It’s been argued that both films serve as apt allegories for the European Union-each main cast member is from a different country-and it was both hilarious and touching to see our heroes react to different situations as their cultures collided and coalesced.

The Holy Pilgrimage: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

It’s hard to choose between Raiders of the Lost Ark and Last Crusade for best Indiana Jones film (let’s pretend Temple of Doom never happened), but both are doubtless travel films that will make anyone want to hop a plane.

We give the edge to Last Crusade for the spine-tingling final trip to the grail’s lair (and we believe we have chosen…wisely).

Before that final scene, we get to see the scorching deserts of Utah, the canals of Venice, the streets of Nazi-era Berlin, and mysterious Jordan.

The First Date: Before Sunrise

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in “Before Sunrise”

It’s not exactly hostel sex (and many say that its sequel, Before Sunset is much better), but travel is still an aphrodisiac between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in this 100 minute-long conversation through Vienna.

From train to city centre and back again, we see two people out of their element explore with a wide-eyed wonder that speaks to their wanderlust-and their ultimate lust for each other.

The Test of a Relationship: Two Days in Paris

For those of us who have traveled with significant others to results less than fairytale-like, the story is immediately familiar.

An un-romanticized (though no less tempting) backdrop of Paris fuels the wanderlust and while the end is not necessarily a ride off into the sunset, it’s easily the most realistic cinematic take on couples’ travel.

The Reason to Start Sniffing Glue: Airplane!

“Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?” “Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines.”

“Oh, stewardess! I speak jive.”

This is either the movie that makes you never want to set foot on a plane again, or get to the nearest airport immediately.

A spoof on the then-popular airplane disaster movies, ex-Navy pilot Ted follows his stewardess ex onto a plane to win her back and-several dozen infamous quotes later-saves the plane from certain doom.

The Satire: Sullivan’s Travels

That Sullivan’s Travels was made so close to the end of the Great Depression speaks to the true Swiftian satire of writer/director Preston Sturges.

While Sullivan is good at his job of making light, comedic films, what he really wants to do is direct an expose of the social problems plaguing the United States (titled O Brother, Where Art Thou?)

What he eventually learns, after going from riches to rags in an attempt to understand the common man is that the country needs comedies to forget about its social problems.

The Odyssey: O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Before they won the Oscar for No Country for Old Men, the Coen Brothers were nodding to Sullivan’s Travels with 2000’s O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Based on the Odyssey of Homer (which these two claim to not have read prior to making this movie) and A Dozen Tough Jobs by Howard Waldrop, O Brother follows George Clooney, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Turturro through Depression-era Mississippi to break up Clooney’s ex-wife’s wedding.

Modern-day lotus eaters, sirens, Hades, and a Cyclops make cameos.

The Road Trip: Flirting With Disaster

If O Brother, Where Art Thou? was the story of Odysseus, then Flirting With Disaster is the story of Telemachus.

Ten years before the Hoovers trekked in a run-down VW to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant, Ben Stiller and Patricia Arquette cross the United States with their incompetent adoption agent (Tea Leoni) and four-month old son to find Stiller’s birth parents.

The Social Commentary: Borat – Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Sometimes it takes an outsider’s perspective to really teach you about your home country.

Borat was one of those characters who gave we Americans some much-needed edification. An ice-cream truck is a great way to cross the country (and, failing that, a busload of evangelists will do the trick).

A bear may kill your wife, but it’s still great protection against the Jews. Every mortgage brokers’ convention should be interrupted by two men in a naked brawl. And you can always find enlightenment in an RV full of frat boys (not).

The Great Cardio Workout: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Its final installment may have won the Oscar, but we can’t help but agree with the Clerks II assessment of the trilogy: a lot of walking, more walking, dropping a ring in a volcano, and walking back. Still, like Star Wars, this is a pretty epic trek that is all about the journey.

That the film revitalized New Zealand tourism doesn’t hurt, either.

The Totally Bogus Time Bend: Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Alex Winter and a young Keanu Reeves.

Whoa! Not only do Bill S. Preston Esq. and Ted Theodore Logan travel as far back as the 400s BC, they hit up Austria, Germany, Greece, Mongolia, France, Antebellum D.C., and the Wild West.

But perhaps the real travel here is their band of historical figures-everyone from Beethoven to Freud to Genghis Khan to Joan of Arc-coming to terms with life in the late 80s at the San Dimas Mall.

And let’s not forget Napoleon having a field day on the slides at Waterloo Water Park. Most excellent.

The Family Vacation: The Darjeeling Limited

We can always count on Wes Anderson to make us feel better about our own family quirks and his most recent installment, 2007’s The Darjeeling Limited, is no exception.

With a soundtrack almost entirely dedicated to Merchant Ivory and Bollywood film scores and an ode to train travel not seen since Paul Theroux, this may also be one of his most visually appealing films.

The Road to Hell: In Bruges

“Maybe that’s what hell is,” Colin Farrell muses in one of his ubiquitous voice-overs in this recent cinematic gem: “an entire eternity spent in Bruges.”

As Farrell and his cohort (Brendan Gleeson) hide out in an unsuspecting Belgian town while recovering from a botched hit-job, we see various shades of hell.

There is the resounding guilt that Farrell goes through. There’s the life of a dwarf actor addicted to amphetamines and zingy one-liners. There’s the elephantine tourists.

And then there’s the silver lining thanks to Martin McDonagh’s wickedly dark comic talent-and gorgeous shots of Belgium’s answer to Venice.

The Business Trip: M*A*S*H

Attention, attention: this next film will be M*A*S*H. The film that launched a thousand (fine, 251) television episodes, puts the audience in the passenger’s seat (of a stolen Jeep, naturally) to the journey of three civilian doctors drafted into the Korean War.

Much more than a typical “war is hell” flick, M*A*S*H is a series of episodes depicting ordinary people dealing with the distance from home-and sanity-as best they can.

The Fish Out of Water: Lost in Translation

Bill Murray is the tallest man in the elevator. He has to crouch to use the shower head. His translator takes a good five-second monologue and siphons it down to one, brief “No.”

He meets a match in Scarlett Johanssen and we get a poetic, atmospherically-charged tour of Tokyo under the same steady directorial hand that would take us through Versailles a few years later. Though Versailles has nothing on robots, Japanese game show hosts, or Suntory whiskey.

The Survivors: Deliverance

We don’t know what’s more iconic: the “squeal like a pig” scene, the prominence of Burt Reynolds’s moustache, or the dueling banjos with which this film will-in a knee-jerk reaction-always be associated.

Perhaps it’s Deliverance in and of itself. Losing the Oscar to The Godfather, John Boorman’s masterpiece speaks to the concerns of diminishing wildlife, the dangers of the southern U.S. backwoods, and why four city slickers in a canoe makes for a good survival story.

The Avengers: Munich

In the wake of the massacre at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Eric Bana and his compatriots are sent out to seek vengeance on the members of Black September.

As attack groups and counter-attack groups chase each other around the globe, a new, ironic diaspora from one of the most fought-over pieces of land rises from the metaphoric rubble.

The Imperialist: Lawrence of Arabia

When asked why he didn’t win the Oscar the year he was nominated for playing this multiple award-winning film’s title character, Peter O’Toole simply said “They gave it to somebody else.”

Yet even though he didn’t take home the statue, the history books will remember the extraordinarily complex figure of T.E. Lawrence, and his cinematic double of O’Toole.

From imperialist to hero, Lawrence has been called many things, and his benefit to both Northern Africa and Great Britain is still largely questioned, reminding us that even the most seemingly selfish of travelers possess their own complexities.

Something to think about the next time someone tries to steal your window seat.

The Chase: North By Northwest

It’s not a travel movie roundup until we see Cary Grant being chased down by a crop-dusting plane. One of the best fugitive/spy flicks from the master of suspense is also the best film to showcase Mount Rushmore (sorry, National Treasure 2).

Maybe it’s due to the part where Eva Marie Saint is dangling precariously from its edge, but more likely it’s the part where Cary Grant dryly says “I don’t like the way Teddy Roosevelt is looking at me.”

We thought Teddy was giving us the stink-eye, too.

The Mid-Life Crisis: 10

You know, it’s really unfair to pit Julie Andrews against Bo Derek. One’s Mary Poppins-slash-Maria von Trapp. The other is a corn rowed blonde who has a thing for hooking up to Ravel’s “Bolero” (something to think about putting onto your iPod before you reach the hostel).

Nevertheless, what better cure for Dudley Moore’s midlife crisis than to ditch the former and follow the latter on her honeymoon to Mexico?

Not only did this film show us how travel can be a great escape from the plagues of the real world, it showed us that Bo was an actress to watch, and that Dudley Moore’s career was nowhere near finished.

These are our picks, but any glue-sniffing pilot will agree that movie choices are deeply personal.

So tell us: what would you add to the list of movies that stoke our travel-lust?

Are you addicted to tech? Photo by Adrian Sampson

As travelers, we like to think of ourselves as intrepid, independent, and adaptive. We forgo modern comforts in return for experiences and relationships that are difficult to find within our own societies.

Many of us are trying to find answers, find a purpose, or find ourselves, away from the “noise” of daily lives which have become mundane and unfulfilling.

Yet even as we scorn the rat race, pitying our cubicle-slaving peers, I say that many of us remain slaves to technology miles away from home.

In this way, travel can remind us how inundated our lives are with the distractions of modern conveniences. Backpacking this past December, I rediscovered the freedom of being unplugged, and came home with a renewed desire to downsize my digital addictions, both at home and on the road.

Here’s a look at five tech vices that can be difficult to ditch on the road, and how giving them up can help us rediscover some of the most important rewards of travel.

#5: The Television

Most of us probably don’t have a real hard time giving up TV, but occasionally we long to feel connected to something familiar.

During my first solo trip to Thailand, there came a point where the seclusion of the journey took its inevitable toll- I found myself aching to flip on the tube just to hear another voice that spoke my language.

Fortunately, there wasn’t a TV screen be found, and so I was forced to gather my courage, leave the hostel, and do what I’d come to Thailand to do: explore life, people, and myself in a new part of the world.

The result: while walking down a random sidewalk in Bangkok, I ran into Pete, my old neighbor from college whom I hadn’t seen for four years.

Serendipity: 1 Technology: 0.

#4: The Cell Phone

Lately, it’s begun to seem as if the human species has evolved an extra limb: the ubiquitous mobile device, in all shapes, sizes, and ringtones. SIM cards and GSM rentals let you stay connected whether you’re in Paris or Ulaanbaatar.

My advice: unless you absolutely have to be on call with the office, don’t waste your money on these.

When I worked in Thailand last year, using the internet for a quick “Hi, I’m alive!” was easier (and much cheaper) than the $30 plastic hand-held I initially bought.

But more importantly, part of the idea in traveling is the level of detachment that goes with it. If your intent is to get properly lost in the non-Western world, you won’t want the safety blanket of having familiar voices available at the push of a button-even when you terribly miss your friends and family.

The longer you can keep the worries and doubts of friends and family at bay, the louder your inner dialogue will become. You will reflect deeper, write more expressively, and grow thicker skin by not having that easy outlet when the road gets frustrating.

#3: The Internet

Photo by ppdigital

It seems silly to advocate Internet abstinence since you’re reading this on a web magazine, but hear me out.

Let’s face it: our culture is web-obsessed. We do everything online these days, from paying bills to making friends, to broadcasting the innumerable updates of our daily lives on our Facebook profiles. I count myself among the guilty.

In order to achieve the full renewal and enlightenment that travel affords, I suggest you try rediscovering life before the Era of Internet. You’ll be surprised at how freeing this is.

Send your friends postcards or snail-mail letters. Say no to search engines and instead, ask locals for restaurant suggestions, or to draw you a map of what they think are the hidden gems of their city.

With luck, you’ll be sent to eat so-and-so’s-friend’s-mother’s famous home cooked meal, or discover a tucked-away treasure that most other travelers miss. Even if you end up in the wrong place, you’ll likely have some great writing material.

You say you have to work from the road? Why not try and leave your laptop with someone you trust for a few days, and use a journal or sketchbook instead. You’ll have the opportunity to observe life happening around you, with all your senses, and be alive in the moment of your journey.

My point is that not only can you survive without all those online resources you’ve come to love, but it’s also important to literally and mentally unplug your life whenever you have the chance.

#2: The Digital Camera

Have you ever taken 147 photos of the same bridge? I have.

When I later found that very few of my photos were worth saving, I realized that the bridge and its surroundings had been mesmerizing, but instead of finding the source of its magic with my own eyes, I had tried to capture it with my camera.

If I had pried my face away from the viewfinder and used all my senses to reflect on the beauty around me, I might better remember the sounds, smells, and mood of the setting that have since faded from my memory.

Knee-deep in the inevitable culture-shock and romance of backpacking the third world, or touring the neighborhoods of Paris, it’s easy to get trigger happy, filling flash cards with every shot that seems “exotic” or “authentic.” We want evidence of our authentic experiences in the real, raw world.

Yet, we’ve all said “the pictures don’t do it justice,” because it’s true-our memories are never going to mean as much to someone else as they do to us.

Next time you have the urge to start snapping away, pause. Keep the lens cover on, transcend the desire to capture life in a frame, and take a minute to focus on what’s captivating your attention. Preserve it in your memory by absorbing more details than you would through a 3×5 snapshot.

#1: The MP3 Player

You lash your pack to the bus roof, near a crate of squawking poultry, and settle into the seat that will cradle your tookus for the next ten hours.

As you switch on your iPod for some copious out-the-window-staring, the romance of your overland trip suddenly disintegrates when you realize that your batteries have gone dead. If you’re anything like me, you may even be hyperventilating at this point.

Portable music is my hardest vice to give up. That said, I’ve done it and I urge you to try this one too.

If you’re truly looking to make connections with your surroundings in a foreign place, be it with local people, other travelers, or simply the new environment, you’ll have a difficult time doing so with headphones on.

Aside from blocking out the soundtrack of your new locale, having your music on projects the image that you rather be left alone.

And at risk of sounding like Bjork, there is music all around us if we just listen: new dialects, foreign insects, strange noises coming from the corner of your hostel room…OK, you might want the earplugs for that one, but you get the idea.

Granted, sometimes we need some personal space, and that’s OK. But if you’re constantly shielding yourself from others around you, you’re missing the point of traveling.

If you can’t bear leaving the music off (after all, ten hours on a bus is brutal), then at least offer to share one of the headphones with your seat mate. Depending on who’s next to you, some interesting cross-cultural exchange is bound to happen.

The Last Byte…

I’m not denouncing technology, nor claiming to follow these suggestions every time I travel. But I will say that the most incredible experiences that I’ve gathered during my time on the road-good, bad, comical, and sobering-have all been the most low-tech.

The truth is, our beloved modern wonders quite often cause us to miss what we’re trying to find through travel: real life.

If you’re set on learning about the world and discovering your place within it, then try traveling with just two resources – yourself and the world.

What do you think about the joy of traveling unplugged? Share your thoughts/experiences in the comments!

Photo by Cedric Pieterse

Every time I listen to Pink Floyd’s Shine on You Crazy Diamond, I think back to the Makgadi-kgadi Pans in Botswana. These pans cover 6 177.6 square miles, and from the middle, you can see the curvature of the Earth.

Once, I drove my Land Rover over the pans and decided to stop in the middle and sleep under the stars. Pink Floyd played on the CD player and it made the whole experience surreal.

When I listen to Joan Baez I’m taken back to a surfing trip and a remote beach down the East Coast of Africa. I can smell the freshly caught crayfish crackling over the coals and hear the waves whooshing in the dark.

Music reminds us of our travels, just as much as it inspires us to travel. It urges us to unfold the maps, pack the backpack and hit the road.

Here are 8 reasons we love music on the journey:

1. Music is a universal language

Local music breaks down the barriers of language and ethnicity. Music is a universal language, which uplifts the spirit and helps to make friends.

People all over the world identify with music. The essence of ancient cultures lies in music, and if we are lucky, we can experience a bit of it.

I was one of very few Westerners to have been invited to a traditional Ghule-whankulu dance in Malawi. These dancers belong to a secret society, their true identities are known only by themselves, and no one in the village knows who is behind the masks.

Their energetic dancing accompanied by awe-inspiring drum rhythms will always be a part of my memories.

2. Music reminds you of the people

Music reminds you of the people you met along the journey. Like a little romance I had with the girl from Holland captured perfectly by Natalie Imbruglia while we were waiting for the bus. It was a bittersweet farewell.

She promised to phone me, lying naked on the floor. (It never happened…)

3. Music can make the world yours

Music shortens those long hot and smelly journeys in the back of a crowded bus. Music can drown out the noise of a big city. Listening to your favorite tracks can enhance the experience of seeing a natural or man-made wonder for the first time.

Make that “touristy” spot, a piece of your own travel memories without the camera-toting holidaymakers. For me it was Moby at Victoria Falls in Zambia.

4. Music can ignite your imagination

Photo by Cedric Pieterse

Recently, I boarded a plane at the start of a new journey. As the plane hurtled down the runway on take-off, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Free Bird was reminding me that I was free as a bird, and that I would never change.

Too many places to see. Music fueled the excitement. The promise of new adventure. It made the farewell to my family easier.

5. Music can enhance the present

Music makes the world a little more interesting. It helps your thoughts and imagination to be a little bit more creative.

I was sitting at the Stockholm train-station, and I was listening to Vaya Con Dios’s Don’t cry for Louie. I saw this shady guy with a trench coat and dark glasses, and he had two tarty looking women with him.

Pimp and prostitutes. I saw Louie. I had the urge to walk over to one of the women and ask her to sing for me, in that lovely low and sexy voice. The fear of a slap in the face, and possible arrest for public disturbance stopped me.

And Louie would have been pissed off.

6. Music can scar you

Sometimes, music can have a negative impact as well. Malawi has cured me of Peter Tosh and Bob Marley forever.

I was staying at a backpackers in Inkhatha Bayand, and couldn’t help but notice some other “beach boys” that spoke with overdone Jamaican accents. The local Rastas.

They were rolling joint after joint of “electric spinach” and listening to some shockingly bad, very loud distortions of Buffalo Soldier and Redemption Song. Over and fucking over.

7. Music can be a useful

I have once used music as a weapon. I arrived at this nice little campsite at the Drakensberg in South Africa, on the Lesotho border.

I set up camp away from the rest of the crowd when a noisy family decided to come and disturb my peace. They settled right next to me, and the kids proceeded to kick up a lot of noise.

I put Tom Wait’s Bone Machine on at top volume and took a few sips of Rum straight out the bottle while I gave the mother the evil eye.

Needless to say, they packed up and left me in peace. I always reserve old Tom for warding off witchdoctors and noisy kids.

8. Music is travel

Mostly, I have fond memories of my travels when I am listening to music at home and working towards the next trip. It is like a form of traveling on its own. Traveling without moving.

How has music enhanced your journeys? Share your stories in the comments!

You may have heard about the new book from Naomi Klein (author of No Logo) recently published, titled “The Shock Doctrine.” This short film offers a compelling argument about her idea.

“When I finished The Shock Doctrine, I sent it to Alfonso Cuarón because I adore his films and felt that the future he created for Children of Men was very close to the present I was seeing in disaster zones. I was hoping he would send me a quote for the book jacket and instead he pulled together this amazing team of artists — including Jonás Cuarón who directed and edited — to make The Shock Doctrine short film. It was one of those blessed projects where everything felt fated.” – Naomi Klein

Read more about the film and book on her website.

Rolf Potts recently gave a talk at the Google Offices in New York, explaining the finer details of long-term travel. It’s an action-packed hour of information any serious (or potential) vagabonder should know.

To check out a chapter menu with time stamps, visit this entry on Vagablogging.net

Remember back in the old days, when music was actually stored on circular pieces of plastic?

This archaic technology was called a “compact disc” and seems quaint now in the time of gigabytes and iPods.

Now you can take your entire music collection (along with your neighbour’s) with you on the road. Which means there’s no excuse for not having a playlist ready for any travel situation you find yourself in.

Having the perfect playlist will ensure the camaraderie and admiration of others, and will result in immense personal satisfaction.

Here are 5 essential playlists for the most common traveler situations, along with a bonus backup playlist just in case.

The Roadtrip

There’s nothing worse than heading out for the roadtrip of a lifetime, and finding the only music on hand is a compilation of obscure Australian folk music (yes, I’ve lived through it).

Avoid this torture by pre-selecting a bevy of roadtrip tunes guaranteed to cross cultural boundaries no matter who’s in the car/bus/jeep.

Suggested Artists: Nirvana, Bryan Adams, Tom Petty

The Hammock Chillout

It’s afternoon. You spent the morning snorkeling the crystal blue ocean, darting among the rainbow coloured fish, tasting the salt water on your tongue. Lunch was a bowl of green curry, chased down with a Beer Chiang.

You’re tired, but satisfied. The sun has reached it’s zenith, draining your energy to do anything but relax in the hostel hammocks or lounge by the pool. It’s the perfect time to ask the employee behind the desk if you can hook up your MP3 player for some chillout tunes.

Suggested Artists: Coldplay, Air, Jack Johnson, Zero 7

The Hostel Pre-Party

It’s a big night tonight. You’ve just arrived in town, unpacked your bags, befriended the few others in your hostel room (or hotel) and have decided it’s time to hit the town.

You head out to the nearest liquor store, grab a six-pack, bottle of boxed wine, or a mickey of vodka, and return to your room, stocked up from some pre-party drinking.

What’s missing? The music of course. Your bring out your MP3 player, hook it up to the handy external speakers you picked up before leaving home, and proceed to get the evening started.

A few of the following artists should keep you pumped until a warm buzz fills your blood and you’re ready to head out into the night.

Suggested Artists: Franz Ferdinand, Beastie Boys, Sublime, White Stripes

The Jungle Meditation

You’re at an eco-lodge or hostel in the middle of the jungle. No electricity (or perhaps very limited solar). No urban sounds penetrate the peace of the locale. Monkeys, birds, insects, and wind in the trees all contribute to the lush cacophony of music.

Of course, the lodge has a bungalow or secluded clearing nearby for travelers looking to practice a bit of meditation, or even simple yoga.

You could listen to the natural jungle music, or you could enhance it with some Buddhist chanting or Indian sitar. Perfect time to pop in your headphones, or use your portable speakers that came in so handy at the hostel pre-party last week.

Suggested Artists: Thievery Corporation, Flunk, Deep Forest

The Recreational Sport

You’re walking down the beach, enjoying the sunshine and the sand, wondering what to do with your day. Read a book? Wander into town? Take another nap?

Suddenly you stumble upon a group of locals kicking around a soccer ball. They stop. Size you up. Then wave you over to join in.

Or perhaps you’re at a hostel with a few mates, one of whom has the motivation to borrow the volleyball from behind the check-in desk, and gather everyone for some recreational volleyball. What would enhance the moment? Some high-energy background tunes.

Suggested Artists: Chemical Brothers, Groove Armada, Daft Punk

Bonus Playlist: Bob Marley

Should you accidentally forget to cover all your playlist bases, and you find yourself without one for a certain situation – you can always fall back on the eternal Bob Marley.

From the taxi driver in Calcutta to the scowling old man in an Albanian pub – everyone knows Bob.

So don’t be caught unawares – at the minimum have Bob Marley and the Wailers: Greatest Hits. There’s nothing quite like a good solid shoutout of “Oooo yeah!” to earn immediate kinship with other travelers and locals.

Any common travel situations I missed? Share in the comments!

Think you can spare 10 minutes to travel the world? Here’s a great short film that follows one couple from Spain as they escape their “living dead” existence and head out into the unknown.

Cue: wanderlust. They pack a lot of countries in a short period of time. True, it would have been nice if they mixed up the soundtrack a bit, but overall, an inspirational watch.

Think you’re too busy/too poor/too shy to strike out on your own round the world trip? Check out the great series by Rob Meyer where he busts various travel myths about budget, time, and dangers of the road.

Some people may believe my occasional forays into the topic of news and media is diverging from our mandate of brave new travel. But when you think about it, the issues actually quite related.

Our view of the world and other cultures is largely coloured by the lens of big newspapers and television. In the past, diversity of opinion is what kept the multitude of lenses from swinging too far from reality. You could pick a few sources, and find your own truth in the middle.

These days the tentacles of big media have largely enveloped these once independent sources. And they’ve been spewing toxic sludge instead of thoughtful reporting ever since.

Case in point: the two largest newspapers in Vancouver this week carried front page stories about Paris Hilton’s jail sentence (and I’m sure the coverage was even more thorough in the US).

How to combat this noxious pollution? Support alternative news sources. Stop reading big media. And turn off your TV.

I didn’t quite know how to introduce this film myself, so here’s the description from their website.

This is an unusual kind of underground production. An anonymous sympathiser has edited a video recording of Roy’s speech over 64 minutes, interspersing an impressive array of archival footage to illustrate themes and specific historical events. Contemporary music overlaid throughout the piece shifts the mood and quickens the pace. The result is a visual essay rather than a traditional documentary, perfectly suited to its creator’s intentions, which is to spread the anti-imperialist, social justice politics of Arundhati Roy everywhere.

Also, don’t miss an interview with the film’s creator. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. I know this film stirred some thoughts in me — but I’m curious to hear yours.

You don’t watch TV. I know that. I’m preaching to the converted here. But sometimes, it’s nice to get a reminder that television is brainwashing and sucking the lives out of millions of people around the world at this moment.

Above is a clip from the 1976 film Network, with the transcript of the rant below. And if you haven’t checked out Throw Away Your TV yet, head over there now. It’s brilliant.

So, a rich little man with white hair died. What does that got to do with the price of rice, right? And why is that woe to us?

Because you people and 62 million other Americans are listening to me right now. Because less than 3 percent of you people read books. Because less than 15 percent of you read newspapers. Because the only truth you know is what you get over this tube.

Right now, there is a whole, an entire generation that never knew anything that didn’t come out of this tube. This tube is the gospel, the ultimate revelation. This tube can make or break presidents, popes, prime ministers. This tube is the most awesome goddamn force in the whole godless world.

And woe is us if it ever falls into the hands of the wrong people. And that’s why woe is us that Edward George Ruddy died. Because this company is now in the hands of CCA – the Communication Corporation of America. There’s a new Chairman of the Board, a man called Frank Hackett, sitting in Mr. Ruddy’s office on the 20th floor.

And when the 12th largest company in the world controls the most awesome goddamn propaganda force in the whole godless world, who knows what shit will be peddled for truth on this network.

So, you listen to me. Listen to me! Television is not the truth. Television’s a goddamn amusement park. Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, sideshow freaks, lion tamers, and football players. We’re in the boredom-killing business.

So if you want the truth, go to God. Go to your gurus. Go to yourselves, because that’s the only place you’re going to find any real truth. But, man, you’re never gonna get any truth from us.

We’ll tell you anything you wanna hear. We lie like hell. We’ll tell you that Kojak always gets the killer and that nobody ever gets cancer at Archie Bunker’s house. And no matter how much trouble the hero is in, don’t worry. Just look at your watch. At the end of the hour, he’s gonna win.

We’ll tell you any shit you want to hear. We deal in illusions, man. None of it is true!

But you people sit there day after day, night after night, all ages, colors, creeds. We’re all you know. You’re beginning to believe the illusions we’re spinning here. You’re beginning to think that the tube is reality and that your own lives are unreal.

You do whatever the tube tells you. You dress like the tube. You eat like the tube. You raise your children like the tube. You even think like the tube. This is mass madness you maniacs! In God’s name you people are the real thing, WE are the illusion!

So turn off your television sets. Turn them off now. Turn them off right now. Turn them off and leave them off. Turn them off right in the middle of the sentence I am speaking to you now! Turn them off!

Ever chuckled at the poor dude getting on and off boats and buses with a pack AND a guitar? Well they’re not as dumb as they look. Their time comes.

Because, if they can find a campfire, they’ll be in their element. And, if they can play just a handful of the following songs below, they won’t be going back to their Thai beach hut alone.

Some are oldies, some are new. Some are cheesy. Some are cool. Some weren’t cool but magically are again. With a beer in your hand and with the sun setting – guitar dude suddenly becomes the coolest guy in the world.

If you can’t play, then download them. No self-respecting, blissed-out beach bar will turn your Ipod away.

Here are The 50 Greatest Campfire Songs Of All Time (in their coolest versions to download).

1. House of the Rising Sun – The Animals
2. Let It Be – The Beatles
3. Ain’t No Sunshine – Bill Withers
4. Time of your Life – Green Day
5. Blowin’ in the Wind – Bob Dylan
6. Our House – Crosby, Still Nash & Young
7. Don’t Dream It’s Over – Crowded House
8. Something Inside so Strong – Labi Siffre
9. Love Song - The Cure
10. True Colours – Cyndi Lauper
11. Hotel California -The Eagles
12. In the Ghetto – Elvis Presley
13. Leaving On A Jet Plane – Frank Sinatra
14. Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) – Harry Belafonte
15. Fire and Rain – James Taylor
16. Hallelujah – John Cale
17. Working Class Hero – John Lennon
18. Take me Home, Country Roads – John Denver
19. Wandering Star – Lee Marvin
20. California Dreamin’ – The Mamas and the Papas
21.Redemption Song – Joe Strummer & Johnny Cash
22. Talkin’ About a Revolution – Tracy Chapman
23. Daydream Believer – The Monkees
24. Down in Albion – Baby Shambles
25. Forever In Blue Jeans – Neil Diamond
26. Only Love Can Break Your Heart – Neil Young
27. Come As You Are – Nirvana
28. (Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay – Otis Redding
29. Baby, I Love your Way – Peter Frampton
30. Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd
31. Dirty Old Town - The Pogues
32. King of the Road – The Proclaimers
33. Everybody Hurts – R.E.M.
34. Killing Me Softly With His Song – Roberta Flack
35. Vincent – Don McLean
36. Handbags and Gladrags – Rod Stewart
37. Wonderwall – Ryan Adams
38. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head – Sacha Distel
39. New Slang – The Shins
40. Mrs. Robinson – Simon & Garfunkel
41. There is a Light That Never Goes Out – The Smiths
42. Grazed Knees – Snow Patrol
43. Lost In Hollywood – System of a Down
44. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) – The Temptations
45. Africa – Toto
46. Handle with Care – Traveling Wilburys
47. All I Want Is You – U2
48. Island in the Sun. – Weezer
49. She’s Not There – The Zombies
50. There She Goes – The Las

Now that you know the list, Learn How To Play The Greatest Campfire Songs!

Feel free to sound off in the comments.

Steve Jackson compiled this list. His Ipod was revered in his old Hanoi hang out at Le Pub at 25 Hang Be Street. Having moved to Nicaragua, he’s now trying to find it a new home. Read about his adventures at Our Man In Granada.

When you think about it, the world is changing faster than ever. Think back over 10 years, 5 years, even 1 year ago, and the social landscape (as least in technologically privileged countries) is much different than today.

We grow accustomed to advancements without even contemplating them. “Sure, I can fit my entire music collection on a piece of plastic half the size of a credit card. So what?” or “My film about spiders on drugs was seen by over 3 million people. How nice!”

What does it all mean? Why are we so driven to pursue the limits of our universe? Why do so many people think they should have a blog?

This brilliant short film from Digital Ethnography attempts to answer that question. When you’re done watching, another filmmaker has posted a provocative response.