BURMA: Despite Loss at Oscars, Film A Testament to Courage
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - It may have not won an Oscar, but its having been a final contender for the prestigious statue at the U.S. Academy Awards on Mar. 7 has taken ‘Burma VJ’ to heights never achieved by previous films depicting the oppression and courage in military-ruled Burma.
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NAMIBIA: Female Hip-Hop Artists Challenge Stereotypes
By Servaas van den Bosch
WINDHOEK - African hip-hop prides itself on a more positive portrayal of women, but traditional cultural attitudes towards women still dominate the industry, say Namibian female rappers.
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ECUADOR: Avatar Downfall a Blow for Indigenous Communities
By Gonzalo Ortiz
QUITO - Science fiction blockbuster Avatar was the big loser in the Oscar awards ceremony - not only a blow for director James Cameron but also seen as a symbolic reverse in the struggle to recover Amazon rainforest areas in Ecuador from the effects of oil pollution.
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VIETNAM: War Movie with Peace Theme Seeks to Heal Wounds
By Tran Dinh Thanh Lam
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam - A Vietnamese film that is vying for an Oscar this month offers a glimpse into how Vietnam and the United States are healing decades-old war wounds, as well as how that war still generates emotional debate today.
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ZIMBABWE: Constitution in the Limelight
By Vusumuzi Sifile
HARARE - A new play, Waiting for Constitution has generated great interest among politicians and civil society groups anxious to get consultations over drafting a new constitution under way.
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BRAZIL: Carnival, a Complex Annual Revolution for Women, Gays
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO - Fátima Oliveira, one of Brazil's few black women doctors, always goes to "the best carnival," in Sabará, a city of 130,000 people in the state of Minas Gerais, where "men dress up as women" at a celebration that is "very informal, very local, with few tourists."
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MEDIA-INDONESIA: When ‘Adding a Friend’ on Facebook Can Be Risky
By Kafil Yamin
JAKARTA - It is every parent’s worst nightmare in the Internet age – and for Syafei Asyhari, this happened when he found that his 16-year-old daughter, Latifa, fell into the clutches of traffickers she met online as friends.
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MIDEAST: Telling Film Floats Between Art and the Actual
By Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM - An Oscar nominee for best foreign-language film, Israel's 'Ajami', is a tragic, yet realistic, pointer to the multi-layered conflict of Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians.
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CHILE: Stop Treating Community Broadcasters as Criminals, Say Activists
By Pamela Sepúlveda
SANTIAGO - Criminal law should not be used against freedom of expression, nor to silence community radio stations in Chile, say activists and journalists in response to closures of community radio outlets in this South American country.
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MUSIC-BRAZIL: 'Enchanted' Guitars for Social Change
By Fabiana Frayssinet
RIO DE JANEIRO - Perfectly in tune, in spite of the off-key world of Terra Encantada ("Enchanted Land"), a shanty town in this Brazilian city, the guitars of Daniel Sant'Anna's orchestra strike up the "Ode to Joy", played by children and teenagers who are looking for a way forward in their lives.
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