612 – Davi Kopenawa, Bruce Albert, Alison Dundy – The falling sky – words of a Yanomami shaman

The Falling Sky is a remarkable first-person account of the life story and cosmo-ecological thought of Davi Kopenawa, shaman and spokesman for the Yanomami of the Brazilian Amazon. Representing a people whose very existence is in jeopardy, Davi Kopenawa paints an unforgettable picture of Yanomami culture, past and present, in the heart of the rainforest–a world where ancient indigenous knowledge and shamanic traditions cope with the global geopolitics of an insatiable natural resources extraction industry.

In richly evocative language, Kopenawa recounts his initiation and experience as a shaman, as well as his first encounters with outsiders: government officials, missionaries, road workers, cattle ranchers, and gold prospectors. He vividly describes the ensuing cultural repression, environmental devastation, and deaths resulting from epidemics and violence. To counter these threats, Davi Kopenawa became a global ambassador for his endangered people. The Falling Sky follows him from his native village in the Northern Amazon to Brazilian cities and finally on transatlantic flights bound for European and American capitals. These travels constitute a shamanic critique of Western industrial society, whose endless material greed, mass violence, and ecological blindness contrast sharply with Yanomami cultural values.

Bruce Albert, a close friend since the 1970s, superbly captures Kopenawa’s intense, poetic voice. This collaborative work provides a unique reading experience that is at the same time a coming-of-age story, a historical account, and a shamanic philosophy, but most of all an impassioned plea to respect native rights and preserve the Amazon rainforest. (amazon)

“When I come back from a trip among the white people, the dizziness leaves my eyes after a while and my thought be-comes clear again. I no longer hear cars, machines, or airplanes. I only lend an ear to the tooro toads and krouma frogs that call the rain in the forest. I only hear the rustling of the leaves in the wind and the rumbling of the thunders in the sky. The ignorant words of the city politicians gradually vanish in the quiet of my sleep. I become calm again by going to hunt and making my spirits dance.

The forest is very beautiful to see. It is cool and aromatic. When you move through it to hunt or travel, you feel joyful and your mind is slow-paced. You listen to the chirping of the cicadas in the distance, or the cries of the curassows and the agami herons, and the clamor of the spider monkeys in the trees. Your worries are eased. Your thoughts can then follow one another without getting obscured.”

0580 – Watchmen (2009)

spacetime coordinates: 1985 New York City

Watchmen is a 2009 American superhero film directed by Zack Snyder, based on the 1986–87 DC Comics limited series of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. It stars an ensemble cast of Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. A dark satirical and dystopian take on the superhero genre, the film is set in an alternate history in the year 1985 at the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, as a group of mostly retired American superheroes investigates the murder of one of their own before uncovering an elaborate and deadly conspiracy, while their moral limitations are challenged by the complex nature of the circumstances.

Minutemen 1940 from the mystery adventure “Watchmen,” a Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures presentation, in association with Legendary Pictures. Pictured left-to-right are: APOLLONIA VANOVA as Silhouette, NIALL MATER as Mothman, DAN PAYNE as Dollar Bill, CLINT CARLETON as the original Nite Owl, DARYL SCHEELER as Captain Metropolis, CARLA GUGINO as the original Silk Spectre, GLENN ENNIS as Hooded Justice and (kneeling) JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN as The Comedian. PHOTOGRAPHS TO BE USED SOLELY FOR ADVERTISING, PROMOTION, PUBLICITY OR REVIEWS OF THIS SPECIFIC MOTION PICTURE AND TO REMAIN THE PROPERTY OF THE STUDIO. NOT FOR SALE OR REDISTRIBUTION.

The “Ultimate Cut” edition incorporated the animated comic Tales of the Black Freighter into the narrative as it was in the original graphic novel, lengthening the runtime to 3 hours and 35 minutes.

imdb   wiki

573

565 – Hostiles (2017)

spacetime coordinates: 1892 Fort Berringer, New Mexico > Fort Winslow in Colorado > tribal lands in Montana

Hostiles is a 2017 American Western film written and directed by Scott Cooper, based on a story by Donald E. Stewart. It stars Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi, Ben Foster, Stephen Lang, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, Adam Beach, Q’orianka Kilcher, and Timothée Chalamet. It follows a U.S. Cavalry officer who must escort a Cheyenne war chief and his family back to their home in Montana in 1892.

imdb

560 – Foxcatcher (2014)

spacetime coordinates: 1987 – 1988 Pennsylvania Foxcatcher is a 2014 American biographical sports true crime drama film produced and directed by Bennett Miller. Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, the film stars Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, and Mark Ruffalo. The film’s plot is loosely based on the events surrounding multimillionaire E.I. du Pont family heir and wrestling enthusiast John E. du Pont‘s 1986 recruitment of two 1984 U.S. Olympic gold medalist wrestlers, Mark Schultz and his older brother David, to help coach U.S. wrestlers for participation in national, world, and Olympic competition, and the subsequent murder of David by John du Pont in January 1996.

real-life subsequent events   plot discrepancies from real life events

ARABS CRASH HOLLYWOOD IN OSCAR-NOMINATED FILM POSTERS

imdb

0559 – The Fighter (2010)

spacetime coordinates: 1993 – 1998 Massachusetts / Atlantic City / Boston / London

The Fighter is a 2010 American biographical sports drama film directed by David O. Russell, and starring Mark Wahlberg (who also co-produced), Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo. The film centers on the lives of professional boxer Micky Ward (Wahlberg) and his older half-brother Dicky Eklund (Bale). Adams plays Micky’s girlfriend Charlene Fleming and Leo portrays Micky and Dicky’s mother, Alice Eklund-Ward. The film was inspired by the 1995 documentary that features the Eklund-Ward family, titled High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell.

filming   imdb

557 – Gangs of New York (2002)

spacetime coordinates: 1846 – 1862  New York City

Gangs of New York is a 2002 American epic period drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was inspired by Herbert Asbury‘s 1928 non-fiction book, The Gangs of New York.

The film is set in 1863 and follows gang leader William “Bill the Butcher” Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis) in his roles as crime boss and political kingmaker under the helm of “Boss” Tweed (Jim Broadbent). The film culminates in a violent confrontation between Cutting and his mob with the protagonist Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his allies, which prefaces the real-life New York Draft Riots of 1863.

historical accuracy   imdb 

10th Anniversary Trailer