655 – The 12th Man / Den 12. mann (2017)

spacetime coordinates: 1943  Norway > Sweden, via Lyngenhalvøya and Manndalen

The 12th Man is a 2017 Norwegian historical drama directed by Harald Zwart and written by Petter Skavlan. The main role of Jan Baalsrud is played by Thomas Gullestad, who escapes from Germans in Rebbenesøya, via Lyngen Fjord and Manndalen, to neutral Sweden in the spring of 1943.

The film is based on the same historical events and has the same protagonist as the Arne Skouen Oscar-nominated film Nine Lives, in which Baalrud’s courage and stamina were also emphasized. The 12th Man is also based on the book Jan Baalsrud and Those Who Saved Him, written by Tore Haug and Astrid Karlsen Scott. Unlike the book, the film puts much emphasis on the efforts of those who helped Baalsrud escape, which was in line with Baalsrud’s own statements about the local population’s courage. The 12th Man’s plot also details the pursuit of Baalsrud from the Gestapo leadership’s perspective, with the escape being depicted as cat-and-mouse game between Sturmbannführer Kurt Stage and Baalsrud. According to German documents, the Nazis believed that the entire Resistance had perished in a blast, meaning that there are no reports indicating that the Germans even knew to hunt for Baalsrud. Baalsrud himself, however, claims that he killed two German soldiers in the fight, which would have definitely created a sharp German response. (wiki)

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0635 – Gold /Oro (2017)

spacetime coordinates: Amazon rainforest, West Indies 1538

Amazon rainforest, 1538. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor sends a group of Spanish soldiers to the new continent to locate Teziutlan, a legendary city created with gold, to claim it to the Spanish Empire.

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622 – Tomb Raider (2013 video game) / Tomb Raider (2018 film)

Tomb Raider is a 2018 action-adventure film directed by Roar Uthaug, with a screenplay by Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Alastair Siddons, from a story by Evan Daugherty and Robertson-Dworet. It is based on the 2013 video game of the same name, with some elements of its sequel by Crystal Dynamics, and is a reboot of the Tomb Raider film series. The film stars Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft, who embarks on a perilous journey to her father’s last-known destination, hoping to solve the mystery of his disappearance. Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu, and Kristin Scott Thomas appear in supporting roles.

Producer Adrian Askarieh told IGN in an interview that he may oversee a film universe with Just Cause, Hitman, Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, and Thief. Askarieh however is not officially accredited with the production of this movie. (wiki)

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Tomb Raider – FULL GAME WALKTHROUGH

0621 – The Book of Eli (2010)

spacetime coordinates: 2043 Pacific Coast / San Francisco Bay Area

The Book of Eli is a 2010 American post-apocalyptic neo-Western action film directed by the Hughes brothers, written by Gary Whitta, and starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson, Jennifer Beals and  Tom Waits. The story revolves around Eli, a nomad in a post-apocalyptic world, who is told by a voice to deliver his copy of a mysterious book to a safe location on the West Coast of the United States. The history of the post-war world is explained along the way, as is the importance of Eli’s task.

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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.”

0610 – Cargo (2017)

spacetime coordinates: post-apocalyptic Australia

Cargo is a 2018 Australian post-apocalyptic thriller film written by Yolanda Ramke and directed by Ramke and Ben Howling. The film stars Martin Freeman, Anthony Hayes, and Caren Pistorius. The film is based on Ramke and Howling’s short film Cargo (youtube). It was released on May 18, 2018, by Netflix.

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