Filmmaking for peace...

[Scott Nocella]

Instead of operating in old paradigm style(there is a winner and a loser and nothing else, the time prior to Septembery 11th!!!)Let's move on to where everyone and everything can benefit from sharing....which is the basis of this forum. It is a time to share good things and put positive things out there....especially now. We reap no benfit from criticizing each others opinion....we only waste one anothers breath, and ultimately lose out on the opportunity we've been given. The opportunity is the freedom to express the gift that we can pass on to the next 7 generations. My gift to my child is the fact that I do documentary stories that have people striving for peaceful existances in this changing time. I can only speak through my actions and for myself. Political discussions are like chaff and flare....they distract from the real issue. The real issue is that we are now a world without borders. The world is now a real time place....things across the globe are now in suburban america's backyard....and we must discuss them like adults. Putting hateful statements out there only feeds a very old and ancient machine that is no longer needed. We have the ability to create changes by implementing alternative energy. It's possible here and now....it's just a choice. I've done research on powering things up and solar power has come a long way....as well as electromagnetic power generation....these are proven means of alternate power generation. Tesla had operating models as far back as the turn of the century.....the problem at that time was JP Morgan and his friends had a monopoly on copper mines at the time so they pushed for electricity generation that was based on negative grounds and copper wiring....now we have the opportunity to implement cold electricity. If you do your research or email me I will send you a link to people who have dedicated their lives to this. Ultimately we cannot afford to have a foreign and domestic policy dictated by energy interests when the solution is evident here and now....change energy policy. We need a manhattan project that purely addresses the energy concerns of not only this country...but the world. That's responsible action.

Peace and Light,

Scott
ww.worldharmonyunlimited.com

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[digvid]

Scott -

Are you saying that our attacks on Afghanistan have something to do with our energy policy???

- digvid

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[digvid]

Scott -

Unity and harmony among all people is a great thing. I personally take great pleasure in associating with people of different races, nationalities, religions, etc., and learning about them. In fact, my wife and I are of different races, and her parents are immigrants from another country with a significant Muslim population.

Also, I think we are fortunate to live in a country that allows us to appreciate diversity. Please realize though that we had to ***fight*** in order to win this privilege. Also, the people we are fighting now are denying this privilege to their citizens. Osama bin Laden doesn't just want America out of the Middle-East. He wants to see the people of Israel scattered, and he wants to see one ruling authority, modeled after the Taliban, over all Muslim nations. Maybe you should send some of your peace films to him. Please pardon me if I seem disrespectful, but I think we are being dangerously naive if we think for one moment that we can reason with or have peace with bin Laden or like-minded people.

- digvid

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[MovieStuff]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Courier, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by digvid:
I think we are being dangerously naive if we think for one moment that we can reason with or have peace with bin Laden or like-minded people.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Amen to that. I am all for loving anyone that doesn't want to kill me on sight.

Roger

[digvid]

Dominic3 -

Glad to hear this from you. I can assure you that almost every American is extremely grateful for the UK's help (and moral support) at this time. It is reassuring to have strong allies that help us instead of blame us!

- digvid

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[Alex]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Courier, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scott Nocella:


The real issue is that we are now a world without borders. The world is now a real time place....things across the globe are now in suburban america's backyard

Peace and Light,

Scott
ww.worldharmonyunlimited.com
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That may be the crux of the issue...If I can live on a mountain and provide for my family, Must I be forced to adopt Western "Improvements"?



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Alex

[MovieStuff]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Courier, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Alex:
That may be the crux of the issue...If I can live on a mountain and provide for my family, Must I be forced to adopt Western "Improvements"?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Of course not. But if you choose to live on a mountain and CAN'T provide for your family, is it the fault of the west for achieving where you have failed? Must we bring our aspirations down to the lowest common denominator because some societies embrace ideals that repress individuality and frown on rewarding hard work and progressive thinking?

The countries that bitch about living in dirt NOW lived in dirt for thousands of years BEFORE there was any such thing as the United States and, certainly, long before the concept of "the west" was ever coined. We shouldn't be chided for progressing and achieving while other countries have chosen a different path. After all, no one forced these countries to embrace the philosophies that govern their way of life. You either adapt to an ever changing world or you get left behind. Tough.

Roger

[Alex]

But isn't the problem that we in fact will not leave them behind. We will make them be a part of the new world whether they want to or not.

American Companies do use cheap labor in many parts of the world, and resources too.

Inevitably, Captain Kirk would surmise that perhaps we have broken the prime directive and influenced other cultures that didn't want our influence.

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Alex

[MovieStuff]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Courier, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by redrice:

we hear a lot in the west about freedom. but we don't hear much about justice, until it's time to go and bloody someone else's nose. perhaps that's why islam is so much more attractive to much of the world than our over-sold and over-priced post-christian-atheism.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi, Peter!

Well, you were doing pretty good until this last paragraph. The attack on the World Trade Center not only had nothing to do with religion, but was an attack against a non-military target for no purpose other than to make a statement. As such, one can not equate the loss of innocent life in the east due to justified military responses against military targets where collateral damage is an unfortunate side effect with the 5000+ lives lost at the WTC from an unprovoked act of aggression. The U.S. at least TRIES to minimize the loss of human life, both with warning and more discrete targeting while the terrorists' sole goal is to take out as many of us as they can and then children dance in the streets when they do. After all, we are the "devil", remember?

Now, the sad truth is that all this nonsense is about a bunch of dirt and who gets to claim it. Personally, I could care less but I DO think that the U.S. has given far too much preference to Israel over Palestine. If I were a Palestinian, I think I would be pissed off, too.

But what defines "civilization" and how does one respond to the loss of land and home, etc? I mean, let's face it, there is no place on earth that did NOT once belong to someone else. When the U.S. was trying to help the people of Kuwait regain their land, I thought to myself,"Wait a minute. How far do we push this concept of "original land owenership?" I mean, we didn't exactly ASK the indians and other native Americans if we could have this land that we now call our home. It was, like every other country in the world, established through violence, war and aggression of some kind. Every civilized country on the face of the earth including Belgium, Peter, once belonged to someone else that lost it through aggression.

So, therein lies the problem, in my opinion. How retroactive do we allow this concept of 'original land ownership' to go? At some point, the losers have to accept that land lost is land lost and get on with their lives and try to make a productive future with what they have. The British once dominated most of the world and have since been confined to their modest sized country. The Romans suffered the same fate not to mention what happened with Germany after WWII.

I am sorry for the "injustice" that happens to everyone in the world but, at some point, you have to suck it up and take your losses if you want to join the rest of humanity on a civilized level. Is it fair? It's as fair as it's going to get.

So, in reference to your previous statement:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Courier, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by redrice:

You seem incapable of imagining that rational people can ever put the common good before their own. Or that one could ever reasonably expect them to give up their own silly little private ambitions, just for a moment, and think about what their egotism is doing to the world - and what their kind of life is doing to others.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Perhaps that is something that is better preached to Osama and his friends. After all, their "silly little private ambitions" obviously have no merit or

A) They would have the majority of the Muslim world praising them instead of condemning them

and

B) They wouldn't be wasting their lives fighting over a worthless piece of dirt that Osama could, with all his emmense wealth, turn into a productive country where his people could prosper and live in the peace that the Koran embraces.

But then, Osama wouldn't get to play soldier, now would he? The same with Saddam. He's a fat man in a country of starving people. Yet, to hear him tell it, that's OUR fault. If the terrorists had no other means to help their people than to strike out at their repressors, then I would say they have a legitimate beef. However, Osama not only has the financial means to help make his country prosperous though non violent ways, he has the intelligence and influence to make a difference. The fact that he CHOOSES a more violent path is what makes him no different from any other criminal, in my book.

More to the point at hand, the attack on the United States had nothing to do with religion as illustrated by the countless violations of the Koran that Osama and company commits on a daily basis. These guys are nothing but a bunch of opportunistic gangsters that have hijacked a nobel religion and use it as an excuse for their own, hypocritical agenda much as the militant Muslims in this country did in the seventies. It has been said before, but I agree: These terrorists have about as much in common with the Muslim religion as the KKK does with Christianity (and I am not religious in the least).

Beyond that, Peter, I agree with a lot what you wrote.

Roger

[This message has been edited by MovieStuff (edited October 13, 2001).]

[8th Man]

Man, as I read down all the posts I respond in my my mind to many of them , but by the time I'm at the bottom I just no longer have the energy to say that much.
In trying to stay in the spirit of this forum I will say that I would love to see some Iranian Film of recent years. Wong Kar Wai who made Chunking Express said he has been influenced by tham lately and I'm willing to give them a shot.
I would say however that there is little doubt in my mind that if the state disaproved of the content these films would never see the light of day. Imagine how many other great filmmakers there are in Iran and other countries who's work we'll never see because of government cencorship.
One of my favorite filmmakers right now is Jiang Yi Mao. His films have been China's entry as best foriegn film at the Oscars yet they are BANNED IN COMMUNIST CHINA. Did someone mention hypocracy before?
I'm living in China right now and I can't wait to be able to go home to buy his films there, cause I can't here.
You know, the U.S. gets crapped on for the bad things we do both abroad and at home.Some of it is disserved, some vey much not. We catch a lot of it because the worlds eyes are always upon us waiting for anything to complain about. Our dirty laundry is hanging for all to see and sniff, yet so many other country's laudry is hidden away in the closet growing ever smellier ever more disgusting. If a woman tried to make a film in Afghanistan saying that, She'd be stoned to death before the opening credits were over. But let's not forget The mpaa gives X ratings to sex but not violence.
Slavey still exists in Africa. But lets not forget that the U.S. had it after most other countries had outlawed it and then payed a horrible price in the form of 600,000 deaths to free them.
Young girls are circumsized in third world countries effectivley removing their ability to enjoy sex.
But let's not forget that the U.S. Are big meanies and end up booted of the U.N.'s council on human rights leaving countries like Lybia, China, Iran, Sudan,Viet nam, and Cuba to make decisions on such matters.
Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge employed teenage torture squads to unleash horrer on people who were doctors or just wore glasses because they were too educated.
But lets not forget the U.S. went into Southeast Asia to try to keep people from from this fate.( I know people will tell me all about how Viet Nam wasn't about that , although no one complains about us helping South Korea stay free.)
The Japanese plugged up the Yangse River in Nanjing in 1937 with 300,000 dead Chinese citizens many of whom were women who were not to old nor to young to be raped to death along with tortured and mutalated.(the Japanese still mostly deny this ever happened)
But lets not forget that they were stopped, after much advance warning, buy an atomic bomb. Well two actually.
I'm just saying the U.S. doesn't have a monopoly on bad deeds nor good ones either. But ask an immigrant why they came to theU.S. and you may get many diferent answers but they still came here more than any other place, even from the countries that we've done so much wrong to.
I have to go, I hear the secret police knocking at my hotel door.
That reminds me, When I had Pro 8 send me four rolls of film here in China, It took weeks in customs, cost me $100 in import taxes and every box was opened to make sure there was no porno hiding inside, which will get you more than an X rating here, it will get you in jail, or worse.


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PRM