After the Mayflower/ We Shall Remain

 It is amazing!!! PBS did it !! "We Shall Remain represents an unprecedented collaboration between Native and non-Native filmmakers and involves Native advisors and scholars at all levels of the project."I only watched "After the Mayflower". It is about Massasoit's dream of peace between the Wampanoags and English! It was a noble and humane decision to help the pilgrims. The alliance maintained some kind of peace.

However after his death, his son "Metacomet-Philip" has to deal with a new generation of English leaders.My favorite part is when Phillip as new Chief of Wampanoags remind the English that his people showed them mercy when they were weak. It was so powerful and painful...King Phillip was killed defending his land. And his 9 years old son was sent to the West Indies as a slave...

Beyond the dreaming of peace and strategic alliance, Massasoit's compassion must be remembered... 
It is a "must watch" in the American Experience series.
Same Moonlight for our Dreams.

Here  a passage from the episode:

"Jonathan Perry, Aquinnah Wampanoag:

After Philip was shot by Alderman, they dismembered his body.

The scarred right hand of Philip was given to Alderman as a trophy of the war. His parts were strewn about

the colonies, spread to the four corners.

Colin G. Calloway, historian: This is a warning to other people, to other Indian people. This is what the

English will... this is how the Enlish will deal with rebellion, deal with treason. And remember that in English

eyes Philip was a traitor -- and this was the punishment meted out by 17th century Englishman to traitors.

Narrator:

Massasoit's son was dead and scattered, but the colonists were taking no chances; they captured

Philip's son and heir -- a nine-year-old boy -- and locked him in a jail in Plymouth. While English authorities

deliberated on whether to sell the boy into slavery, or simply murder him, the Puritans gave thanks to their

God.

Jill Lepore, historian: And the final day of thanksgiving, of the war, is the day Philip's head is marched into

Plymouth. This decapitated head on a pole, its erected in the center, in the center of town and is cause for a

great celebration.

Narrator: They wouldn't take it down, Philip's head. For two decades -- while Philip's son lived in slavery in

the West Indies -- the head was displayed in Plymouth, a reminder to the Indians about who was in charge; a

reminder to the English that God continued to smile on their endeavor.

Colin G. Calloway, historian: 

It's hard to see how conflict could have been avoided and how the outcome of that war could have been different. Looking at the generation before this war, there is at least a moment,

where things were different."

Life and Debt by Stephanie Black

I watched "Life and Debt"  this week end. It was done in 2001 but still true in 2010. It is about the duality between the world of "tourists" and "natives" with the  International Monetary Fund as provider. It is a deep reflection of  global economy and the death of local economies in Jamaica. The worst is that colonization is condemned nowadays but the "economical colonization" is currency. One farmer said that "it is an insult to our dignity". And it does summarize the movie. Of course you can follow the eloquent discourse about post-colonial landscape,a global pattern common throughout the Third World,  debt over double digits  billion to the IMF, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB).
At the end, the economic policies  are killing people that are supposed to benefit. It is an infernal cycle of inflation, recession,national's loan, currency devaluation, lowering wages, and the so trendy "market deregulation". Life and debt exposes the impact of globalization in Jamaica.  Everybody is third world  at this time, no matter how titled is the dice it has only six faces. It is just unfair that it always the same people that are gambling at the expenses to the third class citizens.
Same Moonlight for our dreams.

The End of Poverty? Think Again.Philippe Diaz - Writer/Director

The End Of Poverty? from Philippe Diaz on Vimeo.


From http://www.theendofpoverty.com/

Entre Nos by Paola Mendoza

Entre Nos is written and directed by Paola Mendoza and Gloria La Morte, and starring Paola Mendoza. “Entre Nos” is the inspirational story of an immigrant mother and her children as they struggle to build a life.

In my opinion the title says everything. He says something that you feel deeply when you have two worlds, cultures and languages. “Entre nous” was what my mother told us. And Between us is what I say to my child. Same moonlight for our dreams is about keeping in mind that no matter what our “Entre nous”, “Between us”, and “Entre nos” are different but the same.  It is about family, hope, faith and dreams.

I cannot wait to have the DVD!

Happy Friday!

Entre Nos - Trailer from IndiePix on Vimeo.
Mariana leaves her impoverished hometown in Bogotá, Colombia with her two young children, Gabriel and Andrea, and heads to the USA to be reunited with her husband.
Soon after her arrival her husband abandons the family. With all her options closing in on her Mariana turns to the city's trash in order to put food on the table. With Gabriel and Andrea working beside her collecting cans, the family finds the most stability they have known since their arrival. And it is during these heartbreaking moments that the family triumphs.
In Entre Nos, Mariana, Gabriel and Andrea take us on an inspirational passage from innocence to maturity. Ultimately, we bear witness to a family's story of love that is not everlasting, and their personal courage that is.

"The Cry of the Sea” by Aïcha Thiamin-Le Cri de la Mer (Barca walla Barsakh)

This is a beautiful documentary about clandestine immigration in Africa. Aïcha Thiamin in "The Cry of the Sea” exposes the feelings of survivors of the 2006 trip that killed 85 persons attempting to reach Spain by sea. They succumbed to harsh days at sea without food and water. Despite the loss of their children and men, these women offer hope and optimism without disregarding reality. They are working together to survive; furthermore to thrive for a better future for themselves and their community.

Quotes of Aïcha Thiamin from

http://blog.cineafrique.org/2010/02/15/le-cri-de-la-mer-un-temoignage-poignant-sur-l-emigration-clandestine/

"Aïcha Thiamin: The loss of their children in these appalling conditions already makes the lives of these women too hard. But today life goes on because there is a time to fight, also a time to laugh, dance and drown her pain and sadness. As long as there is life, there is always hope"

Il s'agit d'un beau documentaire sur l'immigration clandestine en Afrique. Aïcha Thiamine dans "Le Cri de la mer» expose les sentiments des survivants d'un  voyage maritime de 2006 qui a tué 85 personnes tentant de rejoindre l'Espagne. Ils ont succombés à des jours difficiles en mer, sans nourriture et  sans eau. Malgrés la perte de leurs enfants et de leurs hommes , ces femmes donnent de l'espoir et l'optimisme sans oublier la réalité. Elles travaillent ensemble pour survivre;  et en outre se développer pour un meilleur avenir en tant que  communauté.

Citation d' Aïcha thiamine sur
http://blog.cineafrique.org/2010/02/15/le-cri-de-la-mer-un-temoignage-poignant-sur-l-emigration-clandestine/
"Aïcha Thiamine: La perte de leurs enfants dans ces conditions épouvantables fait déjà la vie de ces femmes trop dur. Mais la vie d'aujourd'hui qui se passe parce qu'il ya un temps pour combattre, aussi un temps pour rire, de danse et de noyer sa douleur et de tristesse. Tant qu'il ya vie, il ya toujours de l'espoir "

Documentaire  Le Cri de la Mer (Barca walla Barsakh) from AfricanewsITALY on Vimeo.

Binta and the Great Idea by Javier Fesser

Javier Fesser's “Binta and the Great Idea” aka "Binta y la Gran Idea" was nominated in 2007 for the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film.    It is a Spanish-Senegalese co-production . Binta is an African girl that narrates the story . She is seven year old and blessed to attend school. She enjoys it but her cousin Soda lacks that privilege. Binta’s father is a humanist dreaming to change the world for peace, tolerance and solidarity. It is a beautiful story that reminds us that children are tomorrow. It is my all time favorite!!!!

Binta and the Great Idea | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binta_and_the_Great_Idea
 The plot from wikipedia:
"Binta is a young African girl who serves as the narrator. She talks about her father and his 'great idea'. Binta's father is a small-time, local fisherman in a peaceful village in Senegal. His friend who recently visited Europe describes what fishing is like there. He tells him that the Europeans can catch thousands of fish with bigger boats equipped with sonar. The man, very impressed by this, encourages the father to approach the government and request a permit for a bigger boat. Binta's father also hears from his friend how once he attains wealth he must get a permit for a weapon so he can defend his wealth. The friend also shows off his watch which has an alarm set to ring every day at noon.
"What happens at noon?" asks Binta's father. "Why, the alarm rings!" his friend replies.
Binta's father is shown making his way up through the ranks of government, sharing his great idea with various officials. The film switches back and forth between the story of Binta and her father and the struggle between Binta's cousin, Soda, and her father, a village elder. Soda desperately wants to go to school, but her father believes African girls should not be educated; they should learn to tend the home and then get married and tend to home and family.
The village school children put on a play to convince Soda's father to let her attend school. Here we experience the power of art and solidarity; in the end, the father is finally convinced, and Soda is allowed to get an education.
Finally, when Binta's father meets with the provincial leader, we find out what his great idea was: He wants do his part to make the world a better place by adopting a tubab (white child), "preferably weaned," in order to teach him/her qualities which Western industrialized society has largely lost, such as sharing, solidarity, the sustainable use of resources. This film is unusual in that it allows us a glimpse of Western culture as viewed from a third world perspective.
Various themes are touched upon in this delightful film: the power of art to bring about change (see both the play-within-the-film and the film itself), sustainability and equitable division of resources, and the true meaning of progress and humanity."