Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Posted on October 7, 2008 - by Frank
Film Review - Shoah
Many of us have grown up hearing stories about the holocaust through school, television, film, books and museum trips. There is a sense where sometimes it feels too familiar; that the horror of the event is just another of those tales we hear of the past and thus the horror of the catastrophe of the second world war loses it’s human face – a face of darkness and suffering.
Shoah is a 9 hour catalogue of the humanity that lived and breathed during the holocaust. It gives us the face of the tragedy and introduces us to real people with real stories. Its method is pure and simple; interviews and location shots. There is no archival footage with images of countless broken people we will never remember. There are no images that so haunt the memories of humanity where we see rough black and white footage of starved, suffering people who have been subjected to the ravages of human oppression. How many of us forget the faces of those people because when shown that footage, there are so many? Shoah does not allow us that escape. It does not allow the blur of images past.
Posted on September 9, 2008 - by Frank
In Support of - Jedidiah Clothing (with video)
The Humanitarian Chronicle supports socially reponsible businesses whose very reason for existence consists of more than a drive to generate a profit. we support businesses that have written into their DNA a drive to positively impact the world.
We identify Jedidiah, a California based clothing company, as one of those businesses. Jedidiah exists to serve the world around them and was born in 2001 as an entity shunning the pitfalls and extremes of the consumer driven world around us. Essentially, clothing was identified as a means to generate a healthy community. That community is being formed amongst those who work for the brand, those who identify with the brand and those organisations that benefit from the brand.
Jedidiah has done a magnificent job of forming partnerships with humanitarian organisations that directly benefit from its sales. They have dedicated to giving 1% of their revenue to humanitarian organisations, but also have the Hope Collection - a line of clothing where 40% of the revenue goes to the organisations that have inspired the designs.
As you would expect, Jedidiah sum themselves up well:
Mission StatementEstablish Jedidiah as a premiere message driven brand in the fashion industry so that we can create a revenue stream to assist those less fortunate than us through increased awareness, financial contributions and service projects.
The following six principles will help guide us to measure the purpose and effectiveness of our decisions.
• Create a heartfelt work environment where everyone is treated with respect, dignity and compassion.
• Use the highest standards of excellence in designing, sourcing, producing, branding, selling and shipping our products.
• Embrace our clothing as a platform to convey our message of Hope, Grace, Encouragement, Forgiveness and Love.
• Develop and maintain passionate customers through thought provoking product and superior customer service.
• Contribute to the world around us through financial, emotional, relational and prayerful support.
• Understand that being profitable is essential to our future and fulfilling the desires of our hearts.
Jedidiah is a good example of what can be accomplished when it’s about more than simply making a profit for shareholders - the world can be made a better place. May the old model of pure profit driven businesses quickly give way to such socially conscious businesses that realize they leave an imprint with what they do and choose to make that imprint a positive one.
Jedidiah, you get the Humanitarian Chronicle thumbs up…. and we love your website!
Posted on July 31, 2008 - by Frank
Review - Standard Operating Procedure
Written By Jacob Powell (Film Critic)
Reprinted with permission from Filmguide. For more reviews from the NZ Film Festival or more reviews by Jacob Powell, visit Filmguide.
Chances are you’ve seen some of the shocking photographs of torture, humiliation and death that emerged into the wild from the goings on of the American military prison in Abu Ghraib, Iraq; or at least you’ve heard of these pictures via the media aftermath that followed their release. The latest offering from inimitable documentarian Errol Morris (The Thin Blue Line, The Fog of War), Standard Operating Procedure (Hereafter: S.O.P.) is, not so much a direct indictment of the comportment of the American military during the war in Iraq, but an exploration of the Abu Ghraib photographs themselves and the specific contextual situations that produced them.
Posted on July 18, 2008 - by Frank
Film Review - The Devil Came on Horseback
Originally written by The Humanitarian Chronicle for Filmguide. Documentary supplied by Filmguide, for review.
Directed, written and produced by filmmakers Annie Sundberg and Rikki Stern, The Devil Came on Horseback follows the experience of former Marine Captain, Brian Steidle and his experiences in monitoring the peace agreement between northern and southern Sudan, his following of the developing humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s western Dafur region and his subsequent work to compel the international community towards action to stop the genocide taking place and the crimes against humanity.
It begins by introducing us to Brian’s move into the military, a natural move considering his upbringing in a military home. Upon completing his obligated four years in the marines, Brian went looking for something else as he did not want to take a desk job and eventually took a job monitoring the ceasefire between northern and southern Sudan in 2004.
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