Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Liberation Theology - Manna!



Spiral design for stained glass window from J. & R. Lamb studios, suggesting the dynamic workings of the Holy Spirit; now in U.S.Library of Congress. [20th Century. Specific date unknown.]


This is an important aha for me. Liberation theology addresses my particular challenges with the peacebuilding field - that those working on reconciliation perhaps attempt to reduce hostility too quickly at the expense of justice. Manna!

Great new article by David Steele for USIP addresses this. This website is a resource for liberation theology.

http://www.liberationtheology.org/

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Living in France 2009 - Annemasse



I will be living in a flat in Annemasse, France during my time working for UNHCR in Geneva beginning in January.



Here are a few maps a photo, a google street view car video and some tidbits of information about the town.



Annemasse is situated in the Rhône-Alpes region of France, in the heart of Haute-Savoie. Its central location lies between the Mont Blanc and Lake Léman.

At the doorstep of Switzerland, between Mont Salève (1,375 m) and Voirons (1,400 m), Annemasse and its suburbs have a privileged geographical situation with natural acces to the mountain valleys of northern Haute-Savoie.

6 dynamic communities:
Ambilly, Annemasse, Etrembières, Gaillard, Vétraz-Monthoux, Ville-la-Grand, more than 60, 000 inhabitants provide a modern and friendly character.

Thanks to well-known international firms, the Annemasse region generates considerable business due to a large hotel capacity (1,400 rooms). In immediate proximity to Geneva.

French railway SNCF, aviation, and general public transport network, an international airport (Genève-Cointrin) at no more than 30 minutes away and a new highway network, Annemasse and is highly accessible.

Google street view car: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_8KhvtZB9g

Practicum 2009 - UNHCR the UN Refugee Agency


From January - June of 2009 I will fulfill my M.A. practictum requirements for Eastern Mennonite University's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding by working with UNHCR - The UN Refugee Agency in Geneva Switzerland. The section I will be working under is called Community Development, Gender Equality and Children. The UNHCR employs a staff of approximately 6,300 people in more than 110 countries

-UNHCR home page: http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home
-Brochure from my section on determining the interests of a child:
http://www.unhcr.org/protect/PROTECTION/4566b16b2.pdf
-Here is the group's mission statement: http://www.unhcr.org/publ/PUBL/4565a5742.pdf
-And, of course, the Wikipedia run down of what the agency does: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_High_Commissioner_for_Refugees


Here are some basic facts:

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country.

In more than five decades, the agency has helped an estimated 50 million people restart their lives. Today, a staff of around 6,300 people in more than 110 countries continues to help 32.9 million persons.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Friday, Nov. 7, PM Speaks at College Communicators Association Meeting

Friday, Nov. 7 at 1:15 p.m. at Eastern Mennonite University Seminary, Harrisonburg, VA

Student Driven Television Programming: The Challenges and Rewards

Paulette Moore, director/producer of special projects at Shenandoah University and a documentary filmmaker, will present on "Fridays @ 11," SU's student roundtable about news and current events that is aired on local cable television and on YouTube. Moore will discuss the challenges of creating content, evolving technology, sustainability of programming and partnering for greater audience reach. Time will be provided for an audience workshop about how to involve a group of universities in a video round-robin on YouTube using similar programming.


About CCA: The College Communicators Association of Virginia and the District of Columbia seeks to advance the cause of higher education in the Commonwealth and the nation's capital through an exchange of ideas among its members and through its programs and to provide professional development opportunities for its members.

http://www.collegecommunicators.org/

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

PauletteFilms Intv with Jotman Featured on His/Deutsche Welle Page



Jotman is a Southeast Asian blogger whose baptism by fire was the September 2006 coup in Bangkok, Thailand. He's continued to blog about Thailand and Burma since then and the purpose of his blog is to spark "creativity and global citizenship". In 2007 he was awarded the Reporters Without Borders Award and the Best of Blogs award sponsored by Deutsche Welle.

The interview I conducted with Jotman this summer at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in Bonn is now posted on Jotman's main page as well as Deutsche Welle's.


Jotman:
http://page1.jotman.com-a.googlepages.com/aboutjotman

Deutsche Welle:
http://dw-gmf.de/conference_2008/811.php

"Jotman noted the storm devastated Myanmar's main rice-growing region" - CNN

"Jotman is one of the most interesting sources on the Burmese crisis." Reporters Without Borders".

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Kino Microcinema




"The reason for this movement is to give you a good kick in the ass." Kino filmmaker.

"Kino" is the Greek word for "movement" and means "film" or "the cinema" in Russian, German and other languages. Born in Montréal in 1998, Kino began as a challenge, made by founding filmmaker Christian Laurence to his friends, to make one short film per month until the year 2000. However, at the end of this period no one wanted to stop and, in fact, Kino had formed into a movement that encouraged filmmakers in groups scattered across Montréal and Europe to "do well with nothing; do even better with a little," and—most importantly—to "do it right now!"

WHO ARE KINOÏTES
KINO welcomes, without discrimination, anyone who wishes to undertake a serious artistic challenge. We are concerned first and foremost with artists involved in cinema, television, and multimedia, but KINO offers itself up to all those who are called to cinematographic adventure, regardless of age or prior experience.

KINO MONTRÉAL: THE NERVE CENTRE
KINO is a decentralized movement, which means each cell is managed independently. However, in order to facilitate the exchange of information or to speak on behalf of the network, Kino Montréal humbly acts as the “Mother Cell” and presides de facto over the KINO organization.


Here is a video about Kino from a Wisconsin cell of Kino:

http://www.wis-kino.com/films/good_kick-williams.php


And the official Kino website:

http://www.kino00.com/index.php?s=kino

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Global Voices Online



http://globalvoicesonline.org/about/

Global Voices is a non-profit global citizens’ media project founded at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, a research think-tank focused on the Internet’s impact on society.

How Global Voices Works
Our Primary Goals
The Global Voices Team
How Global Voices Works:

Global Voices seeks to aggregate, curate, and amplify the global conversation online - shining light on places and people other media often ignore. We work to develop tools, institutions and relationships that will help all voices, everywhere, to be heard.

With tens of millions of people blogging all over the planet, how do you avoid being overwhelmed by the information overload? How do you figure out who are the most influential or respected and credible bloggers or podcasters in any given country, especially those outside your own?

Our international team of volunteer authors, regional blogger-editors and translators are your guides to the global blogosphere.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Radio Intv. with Dr. Miles Davis Shenandoah University



Dr. Miles Davis, business professor at Shenandoah University and intrepid entreprenuer interviews S.U. film maker Paulette Moore. Moore discusses the sacrifices and rewards of following her passion for independent film filmmaking. To hear the interview go the following link:

http://www.theriver953online.com/page.php?page_id=12580

And scroll down to the September 17th show.

For My Mom - Patricia Moore


The Journey

by Mary Oliver


One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice--

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

"Mend my life!"

each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do--

determined to save

the only life you could save.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Magical Perseids


Tonight and tomorrow morning the annual Perseid Shower. Under perfect conditions, observers can expect to see about 90 to100 meteors an hour, said Wayne Hally, a self-professed "meteor geek" who writes a newsletter for the North American Meteor Network. (National Geographic: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/08/080807-perseids.html)

Friday, July 25, 2008

Washington DC Blogs

Glad to hear that someone's blog is digging into DC's creativity:

http://www.creativedc.org/blog/

And here are sites for DC filmmaker Jeff Krulik http://youtube.com/jeffkrulik who made the short cult film Heavy Metal Parking Lot http://www.heavymetalparkinglot.com

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

On A Reflective Day


Why ponder thus the future to foresee
and jade thy brain to vain perplexity?
Cast off thy care, leave Allah's plans to him -
He formed them all without consulting thee.

-Omar Khayyam, The Rubaiyat

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Wrap up from the Deutsche Welle Media in Peacebuilding Conference



What exactly can and should media do in places of conflict? What dangers come with peacebuilding and conflict prevention? These and other questions were the topics of discussion at the first Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, which was held June 2 - 4in Bonn, Germany.

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi (above) spoke during the conference's opening day. "When violence is detected, the human conscience is also awakened," Ebadi said. "There you can find an answer. Journalistic work is both a dangerous and a holy job."

Ebadi highlighted simple and profound points around journalistic practices that to me were the most poignant messages coming out of the conference. "Mentioning the religion of someone who is convicted of a crime can lead to war," Ebadi said.

Below is an interview with Southeast Asian blogger Jotman, who was first to report the 2006 coup in Thailand and has been a persistant voice for resistance monks and cyclone victims in Burma. I couldn't show Jotman's face because of his work... so you'll soon figure out why the interview is titled "Talk to the Hand".



More interview posts from the conference can be found on PauletteFilms

Monday, May 12, 2008

This is What a Feminist Looks Like


Someone asked me recently where I felt the energy was on Shenandoah University campus... well there's a lot of energy to choose from, but notable this semester was Dr. Amy Sarch Schopick's Women's Studies classes. She's pulling in young men and women from all corners of the campus. Together Amy and her students are breaking taboos, enlightening the community and doing amazing interactive projects to empower and to heal.

One of the many creative projects was the "Break the Glass, Break the Silence" event where more than 40 people gathered to write messages against violence on pieces of glass and then threw them from a ladder, shattering below. The shards are being incorporated into mosaics.



http://www.winchesterstar.com/article_details.php?ArticleID=6248

These classes have had a stunning impact on the students and those around them. One student's mother told me her daughter took over the family Easter table in her eagerness to share all that she was learning.

"I had an awareness some sexual violence even against children was going on," said the mom, who is a retired elementary school teacher. "But this class has made it clear how deeply destructive the issues are."

A male student's writing further illustrates the impact. Here's what he sent to Amy at the end of the semester:

"When I first came into the class I could say I wasn't a feminist because I thought the whole thing was a joke just a class, but as I kept coming I started to see that I was....I had to change my mind on the whole feminist movement; I was rejecting it, not even trying to give it a chance, like girl I didn't like or something. But it started to grow on me, I started to see that it was more than just a word, people really had strong feelings about this stuff. ..."

He goes on to write about Betty Kilby Fisher, the character in the Wit, Will and Walls documentary who spoke to the class about her experiences with violence she experienced as a plaintiff to desegregate Warren County, VA schools in the 1950s.

"...the lady that came and told her story of how she was raped in school just broke me down and I wanted to snap. This lady seemed very sweet and nice and for someone to just take what's her without her giving it to them pissed me off. It felt like I knew her, like she was an aunt or grandmother of mine. That's when I really gained a new respect for the whole feminist movement. I feel like it's my duty to empower guys about feminism. It's been a many of day when I get out of class and go talk to my boys about what I learned in class... I feel I can help make a small change in my area where I live. So I'm proud to say I'm a feminist."

Photos Scott Mason, Winchester Star

Friday, May 09, 2008

Seeing Selma, Alabama



Took a slow train to Birmingham, Alabama and now making our way through Selma to Montgomery on a little tour of the Civil Rights South.

Selma is a German name meaning "divine protector" or "helmet of God" and it feels in this famously racially torn town there seems to be a surge of pride and realignment of priorities.

The historic St. James Hotel where we are staying is owned by black entrepreneur Nathaniel Goldston. He is revitalizing the entire block around the building. We met Chef Richard Graves out back this morning, watering his herb garden and he told us his cuisine is about health, freshness, goodness.

Just down the block at the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute, consultant Sam Walker presided.

http://www.selmavotingrightsmuseum.org/#

http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/civilrights/al4.htm





Sam showed us the jaw dropping "I Was There Wall" where hundreds of notes are posted from foot soldiers and other participants in the historic march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965. One surprise was a note from a state trooper who had been called in as back-up from Mobile, Alabama on the day of the protest. He had no background on the march and took part in beating the protesters. He was so disturbed by his actions that one month later he resigned.



Segregationist icon Sheriff Jim Clark had less of a remarkable turn around. Sam told us he was tipped off several years back that Clark was at a local restaurant meeting with would-be writers of his biography. Sam took a busload of schoolchildren from New York over to meet with Clark. Clark refused to be interviewed and told the children that if "you had been there, I'd have whupped your asses too."

Wow.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Wit, Will and Walls - The Trailer



Here is a YouTube trailer for Wit, Will and Walls, the short documentary I directed, produced and wrote with Shenandoah University that profiles Betty Kilby Fisher, who at 13-years-old was plaintiff in the 1958 case to desegregate Warren County Schools. Through the trauma she and her family suffered, Betty found a way to heal herself and help others open up around issues of race.

For more information about scheduling the full 20 minute film for a screening and discussion with Betty Kilby contact paulette@paulettefilms.com.

Watch 5 minutes now on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nH-GypdBy4

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

2007 Films Directed by Women

In honor of Women's History Month - here's a list posted by Women in Film and Video, DC.



2 Days in Paris by Julie Delpy (picture above)

Across the Universe by Julie Taymor

After the Wedding by Susanne Bier

August Rush by Kirstenn Sheridan

Away from Her by Sarah Polley

Avenue Montaigne by Danielle Thompson

Blame it on Fidel by Julie Gavras

Blood and Chocolate by Katja Von Garnier

Broken English by Zoe Cassavates

Catch and Release by Susannah Grant

Diggers by Katherine Diekman

Gray Matters by Sue Kramer

Introducing the Dwights by Cherie Nowlan

Itty Bitty Titty Committee by Jamie Babbit

Jane Austen Book Club by Robin Swicord

Om Shanti Om by Farah Khan

Persepolis Co-directed by Marjane Satrapi

Rails and Ties by Alison Eastwood

Red Road by Andrea Arnold

Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour by Lisa Comrie

Screamers by Carla Garapedian

Sherrybaby by Laurie Collyer

Stephanie Daley by Hilary Brougher

Talk to Me by Kasi Lemmons

The Namesake by Mira Nir

The Nanny Diaries by Shari Spinger Berman

The Savages by Tamara Davis

Things We Lost in the Fire by Susanne Bier

Tortilla Heaven by Judy Hecht Dumontet

Waitress by Adrienne Shelly

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Save the Date and RSVP

A special event in Washington, DC...

Come experience Eastern Mennononite University CJP's pioneering program to address the legacy of slavery in U.S.racial relations, "Coming to the Table." Descendants of slaves and slaveholders invite you to join them at the "Table of Brotherhood" envisioned by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Documentary film "Wit, Will and Walls" by Shenandoah University filmmaker Paulette Moore and coffeehouse discussion at Busboys & Poets Café, 2021 14th St., NW, Washington, DC, from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 29. Free (donations accepted).

The invitation is posted at: http://www.emu.edu/cjp/event-2008-03-29.pdf. Space is
limited, so please register as indicated on the invitation.

Op-Ed on Race Relations in Richmond Times

An intensely scheduled life has kept me from blogging lately - but I have been doing some writing. Here is an op-ed I wrote for black history month that appeared in the Richmond Times Dispatch in February.

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/opinion/oped.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-02-10-0123.html

By PAULETTE MOORE
TIMES-DISPATCH GUEST COLUMNIST

WINCHESTER Black History Month presents an opportunity to look at the state of race relations in our country. The problem is, we lack processes to examine where we are in that realm. The media once presented proof of injustices that led to the civil rights bat tles. The screen images we now see are fleeting and fractured and there is an unspoken unease around race. We are unsure where to begin, how to proceed, or what we are supposed to be talking about.

Nobody can ignore recent progress; Condoleezza Rice is secretary of state, Sen. Barack Obama is a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, and Oprah Winfrey is one of the most powerful persons in the entertainment industry. Yet disturbing issues around race constantly bubble up then disappear into the ether without a way for us to make sense of them.

When racial tension around teens in Jena, La., exploded, protesters journeyed south to demonstrate, then everyone went home. A black woman, kidnapped and tortured in West Virginia, has fallen away from our national consciousness. A sportscaster suggested up-and-coming golfers lynch Tiger Woods in an alley. In reporting the story, Golfweek magazine's image of a noose on its cover shows us that something about the way we see, relate, and talk to one another around race is not working.

Five decades ago the country settled its racial struggles through a series of legal battles. That was the first phase of desegregation. Perhaps the unease we continue to experience around race tells us it is time to address these issues on another, more emotional and personal level.

PEACE-BUILDING and conflict resolution experts advocate the use of storytelling as a way to do that. Recently, narrative was used to settle clashes between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland and as the main vehicle for South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. A North Carolina-based program called The Listening Project interviews citizens in conflicted areas around the world to find hidden keys to social change.

In Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, author and activist Betty Kilby is compelled to tell the story of how violence and racism during the civil rights era affected her life. Kilby was 13 years old when she and 21 other students became plaintiffs in a 1958 court case to desegregate public schools in Warren County. The state of Virginia closed the schools under the state's Massive Resistance laws rather than allow Kilby, her brothers, and black peers access.

Kilby and her family were shot at in their home, and their cattle were poisoned. When the schools desegregated and students returned, Kilby was raped in the auditorium.

It took Kilby more than 40 years to write about her experiences in her 2002 autobiography titled Wit, Will, and Walls. Her story allows one to realize an untold human side of this complex struggle. Children were targeted by the state and suffered deeply. Families were ostracized from their community while many stood by and said nothing. Kilby, depressed and self-destructive, went on to battle racism and misogyny throughout her lifetime.

For me, Kilby's story explains clearly how and why racial tensions rise to the surface today. We are just beginning to deal with the fallout. It hasn't been that long.

REMARKABLY, Betty Kilby's story is not all about trauma. She freed herself from much of the rage of racism. In large part that happened with the awareness that people of all races and classes were relating to her story.

A few years ago at a speaking event, a white man about Kilby's age approached her and said, with obvious emotion, "I just wanted to make sure you were all right." Then he walked away. Kilby said to me, in tears, that she wondered if he was one of the boys involved in the rape. Whether he was or not doesn't change the power of that moment. Kilby's heart is open to the possibility that someone who harmed her violently could have remorse. And a white man in rural Virginia was profoundly affected by Kilby's story.

Betty Kilby understands inherently what conflict resolution experts are eager to tell us: Our stories heal and humanize. They help us find meaning in a conflict and have a unique potential to redirect the past and open options for the future. We don't need to wait for the media to come back from their frenetic jag. Through our stories we have the tools to begin the process of defining where we are on race . . . and where we are able to go.

Paulette Moore is a filmmaker, director, and producer of special projects for Shenandoah University Television in Winchester, and is pursuing a master's degree in conflict transformation at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg. Contact her at (703) 597-7766 or pmoore2@su.edu.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Ray Reprise

More about pioneering tv producer and pal Ray Farkas who we lost to colon cancer a few weeks back. He had an eclectic and influential career, first for NBC's Huntley Brinkley Report and later making documentaries.

NPR's Alex Chadwick made a beautiful tribute to Ray:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17929512

And here's a link to the Alex/Ray co-production Interviews 50 Cents:

http://www.musarium.com/interviews50cents/intro_fm.html

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Bye, Bye Ray!


My friend and inspiration documentary director and producer Ray Farkas has died and I will miss him. His was a brave and original voice - so much so that the just mention of his name could send certain Discovery execs into fits of rage! He and his movies made me laugh or cry or both at the same time. Thank you, Ray, for teaching us about t.v. and humanity and making us understand that "It's not t.v., it's brain surgery!!"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/07/AR2008010703192_2.html