Gérard Depardieu plays black Alexandre Dumas in controversial casting

On the left Gérard Depardieu on the right Alexandre Dumas
A fierce controversy broke out when white French actor Gérard Depardieu played black French cultural icon Alexandre Dumas in the film "L'Autre Dumas" (the other Dumas). Dumas is the "official" writer of the famous novels “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “The Three Musketeers”.

Dumas (1802 - 1870) was the son of a Hatian/French bi-racial father, Thomas Alexandre, and a white French mother.

According to TheRoot Patrick Lozes, France's Representative Council of Black Associations, objected to Depardieu in the role, saying black actors are not given an opportunity to play white roles in French cinema. "It's very shocking and it is insulting," Patrick Lozes told the London Daily Mail. "It is a way of saying that we don't have any black actors who have the talent to play Alexandre Dumas.

"The other Dumas. The history of Alexandre Dumas and (ghostwriter) Auguste Maquet"


But the film is entitled "The other Dumas. The history of Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet". August Maquet is Dumas's ghostwriter (or "literary Negro" as the French said it back in the 18th and 19th century). He was the ghost writer of “The Count of Monte Cristo” , “The Three Musketeers” and other novels and plays. In fact the film deals with the relationship between August Maquet , “other Dumas” , and Alexandre Dumas.

According to the Guardian the film shed new light on the man who fans say was the true genius behind The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo.

In an interesting article in Suite101 "The French Film Industry and Race Discrimination" the author analyses the question whether the choice of Gérard Depardieu is racism or artistic freedom.

In suite101 the author also writes:

Dumas himself was often the butt of jokes,caricature and a frequent target of cartoonists who emphasised his facial features and hair, exaggerating them to accentuate his Haitian heritage. Victoria Foote-Greenwell in her article "The life and resurrection of Alexandre Dumas" in The Smithsonian of 1 July 1996, relates the story of a leading lady once saying as he left, "Open the windows. It smells of Negro."

I agree with Patrick lozee (CRAN) that Dumas had to be played by a black actor, considering France's history with black actors. But I have to admit that Gérard Depardieu is not a bad choice.

According to TheRoot Gerard Depardieu thinks the controvery is “ridiculous” and “unnecessary”. I think Depardieu doesn't want to know the history of Dumas, or better he doesn’t want to know the history of his own country France.

Dumas was reburied in 2002 in the Panthéon of Paris, the place where al the great French are buried. Former France President Jacques Chirac had to acknowledge that racism was the reason why Dumas hadn't been enshrined in the past.

Afro-Europe

Film: Schwarzfahrer - Racism in a German tram

I spotted the film on the blog Afro-Germanica Online. It's a short film about black man who endures racist talk from a German woman.

Schwarzfahrer (also known as Black Rider) is a 1993 German 12-minute short film directed by Pepe Danquart. It won an Academy Award in 1994 for Best Short Subject. The topic of the film is the daily racism a black man endures in a tram. The title is a word-play: literally, "Schwarzfahrer" means "black rider" in German, but is also translatable to "fare-dodger". This word-play forms the punch line of the short film. (Source: wikipedia.)

An interesting film with a O. Henry twist, so bare with it and you will laugh at the end.

UK film: Freestyle - Official Trailer - In cinemas Feb 26

UK film Freestyle in cinemas Feb 26.

Synopsis
Ondene (Lucy Konadu) is beautiful, talented, and destined to study law at Oxford if she gets the required A-Levels. Nothing less will satisfy her domineering mother, Hyacynth (Suzann McLean). When a basketball court is set up near her private school, Ondene is charmed by a charismatic, good-looking freestyle basketball player, Leon (Arinze Kene), and they decide to enter a competition.

From a deprived background, Leon dreams of going to university and needs to win to pay his way. Ondene deceives her mother to be with him, and romance blossoms, only to be crushed when Hyacynth finds out. Balancing her future prospects and her newfound passion, Ondene has to make tough decisions about her family, education, and the man she loves.



Website Freestylemovie

See the interesting pre-review of this film on Shadow and Act: Love And Basketball, London Style

I spotted the film on Madnews, who called the film "Cheesy".

UK film 'Shank' - In cinemas march 26

Shank. If your not one of us, you're a victim

“An action film for the youth generation, set in a decaying future London. A gang set out on a chase to avenge the murder of one of their own. “ I wonder if there is also a European release of this flick.

On madnews I read that UK rapper Bashy and Kidulthood/Adulthood star Adam Deacon are some of ‘Shank’ stars.

http://www.shankthefilm.com/

You can also read an interesting review on the film blog Shadow and act

film: Leroy (Germany 2007)

Leroy, a German youth film (2007).

Leroy (17) is German – and black. He lives in Berlin, wears a big afro, but prefers Mozart to Hip Hop. Leroy’s friends are outsiders as well, Dimi is Greek and Achmed is Palestinian. However they all have girlfriends except Leroy. When cute Eva falls in love with him, nobody is as surprised and confused as Leroy himself.

But first love is not always sweet. Eva’s family turns out to be right wing extremists. They even named their Australian parrots after two of Hitler’s generals and Eva’s five skinhead brothers are longing to kick Leroy’s butt asap.

However, Leroy does not give up easily. He assembles his friends, fights for his love and, in his own style, revives the black power movement of the 70s. His motto: Funk not Fascism.

Leroy (Alain Morel) lives in Berlin-Schöneberg, and is the son of a black eccentric inventor (Günther Kaufmann) and a progressive white mother (Eva Mannschott) who works for the local government

“Director Armin Völckers takes a gently humorous look at otherness and xenophobia in modern day Germany.”
www.spill.com



A black guy who is in love with a girl from a right wing extremist family? It's as if the German director tried to mix German Neo-Nazi culture and black exploitation culture with bi-racial love. I wonder if a black director would have made a flick like that. Germany keeps surprising me.

Official website Leroy
Read more at Seattlefilmfest

The director also made the short film, "Leroy cleans up" (2005)
Part 1


Part 2

The Flanders (Belgium) have their first black TV-star: Uwamungu Cornelis

The Dutch speaking community of Belgium (60% of the total population) has a TV show with a black main character. This is a first timer! Uwamungu Cornelis is a Flemish actor of Rwandan descent. He has been doing the one man show ‘Mungu’ with which he was very successful throughout Dutch speaking Belgium. In this show he tackled the issues of being black and Flemish in a society that virtually ignores the existence of Flemish citizens of African descent.

He played a secondary role in the Flemish soap Kaat & Co and now is the lead actor in the new comedy soap Super8. This show started to be broadcasted a few months ago. I didn’t see this show yet, although I heard that the new digital TV station TV8, which produced it and broadcasts it, is of a good quality.

Watch the trailer:




Besides Uwamungu Cornelis there are some other famous black TV personalities in Flanders (Dutch speaking Belgium) such as Ronny Mosuse (musician) , Maya Albert (actor), Elodie Ouedraogo (athlete), Sandrine Van Handenhoven (singer), Karoline Kamosi also known as Leki (TV personality and singer).

Below you can watch the first episode's first 5 minutes:

Black journalist Tuyala: Reporter posing as a black man is a good idea (Germany)

Journalist Kani Tuyala was interviewed in a German news program about the film of German reporter Günter Wallraff, the film where Walfraff wanted to see what it’s like living as black man in Germany.

In the interview Tuyala says: I find the film a very good idea. I shows that this problem still exits. Racism in German is not being addressed, not even in the media.

Before the interview a shot is shown where Walraff wants to get into a disco in Rosendahl. He asks the doorman: “I want to go to the disco, why don’t let me in?” The doorman replies: “Africa is for Africa, Europe is for whites.”

Interesting detail. The interviewer says: “We as a German society are know for our “Weltoffenheit”. Weltoffenheit is a German concept that is meant to symbolise inclusiveness, multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism. I can only say: let others be the judge of that!

See the interview (video) on Kanis Blog (German)

Harry Roselmack’s new TV show: reporting from the French ghettos

Harry Roselmack will present the TV program “derrière les murs de la cité” (behind the walls of the city). The most popular French journalist, according to a recent small survey, will plunge himself in the troubled French suburbs for a full month.

The concept is English: a journalist will take part and submerge himself in the daily live of a community. For the BBC it’s Louis Theroux, who is best known for his Gonzo style journalism, which is a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to such a degree that they become central figures of their stories.

Roselmack’s program will cover the daily live in the French suburbs. He will first visit the Paris suburb Villiers-le-Bel, the place where the riots started in November 2007. Through the testimonies of the residents, he will will attempt to decipher the functioning of a notoriously difficult city.



Rémi Pernelet, editor-in-Chief of TV 1, is thrilled: "This show will find its public because it provides a different look at life in the suburbs." It will be a success."

The program will be aired by the commercial station TV1, starting on 24 November.

I hope Roselmack will make a program that will change the perspective about people of the 'banlieues'. I don't hope he will become the new black Louis Theroux. That would just make the program look like an urban safari tour.

The film La Haine (The hate) of 1995 had to be a the wake up call!

TV/Social Media: New lives (Nouvelles vies) – Eight people decided to change their life (France)

New Lives is the new French TV and social media reality show on RFO. Eight people who live in, or have roots in the overseas French territories embark on a journey to change their lives by following their dreams. The show is aired on TV, but people can also participate by posting advice on the social media site. Go to Nouvelles Vies (New Lives) here



See the profile videos here

The profiles:

Corinne, originally from Martinique, is a professional dancer. Her specialty is the limbo. She is the mother of 3 boys. At 40 she dreams of starting a dance school. New Lives proposed to accompany her with the steps she undertook, supported by her relatives. Corinne was one of the singers of the eighties disco group Bony M.

Dominique (Guadeloupe) made her living as financial advisor, and is is 30 years old. She has lived all her youth in the Paris, but has decided to leave everything behind to start a new live from scratch on Guadeloupe. Is she not going to miss the city?

Gwénaelle, 18, arrived in Fort-de-France and entered the prestigious school 'école de Sciences-Po Paris'. A real change of life for this young girl who has left her family and friends, and is preparing for a difficult course. The show follows her career, and her first few weeks of adjustment in the capital Paris.

Samuel , 31, lives in Réunion. He practices organic farming and wants to share his beliefs with other farmers in the region. He is preparing to organise the first eco festival of Réunion. His wife will take the opportunity to give bio cooking classes. We'll see if this pair manages to pass on this new lifestyle.

Nathalie is an expectant mother of twins and her life is not easy. This Martiniquaise 33 years will become a single mother, but she must find a new home, repair her car and organize her life. Preparing for the childbirth, and to her new life as a mother, we follow the change of life.

Audrey, 31, originally from Martinique, dropped her job as legal officer and wants to start a new career in producing films. But the path to the cinema is full of pitfalls.

Fabrice (Réunion) is a foreman in a garage during week and skipper in the weekend: his dream is to participate in the sailing contest Round Créolia. He must train and find a teammate, but parallel to its preparation, he was to inherit a land where he plans to mount lodgings. Arrive there at any juggle? Will he participate in the race?

Tiya earns his living by making Theatre and film costumes, but wants to record an album and pursue a singing career. She has already filmed the first clip and tries to make a name for herself.

For more information see: fxgpariscaraibe (French)

Black actors are left out of European Couples Retreat film poster

Spotted on Madnews
The international poster promoting the film Couples Retreat (also seen here in Britain and in Holland) does not feature African American actors Faizon Love and Kali Hawk. See the UK version above and the US version below.

In response to the controversy Universal Pictures said, the poster had been changed to ‘simplify’ it for the UK and international market outside America. The studio added that it regretted causing offence and has abandoned plans to use the revised poster in other countries.

I think it's the segregated mind of a US marketer. How does Universal know that black actors on a poster will frighten a "European" audience. I don't think they have stats to support it, so it must be just a feeling. To me black and white actors in a film, is a typical American film.

Years a ago I read a book with black and white people on the cover. I actually thought I was reading an American book, but when I finish it, it turned out to be a book from a Scottish publisher who wanted to make his book look like an American book.

So this is Universal nonsense.

UK film /event: ‘Find her keep her’ Official Premiere

Spotted on Madnews
The premiere of the highly aniticipated UK film Find Her Keep Her will finally take place on the 20th November. Premiere: 20-11-09 Vue Cinema, The O2 Centre, Greenwich, London.

Set in london, FIND HER KEEP HER is about 3 friends out in search for MRS.RIGHT.T his movie stars Kojo(MTV Base comedian), Rachel Ritfeld( MTV's hip hop candy), Bianca Simmone, Jordan Pitt, Natalie Duvall, Raymond Burrell, Alison Naomi.

This film is, in a certain way, a real black European film, because one of the stars is Surinam Actrice/model Rachel Ritfeld. Surinam born Riffeld has lived in Belgium, and now lives in England.



Film synopsis:

They are the wealthiest players in town. They live the fast life,drive fast cars,live in plush apartments in the posh areas of London. Life can’t be better, money, fame the girls, but one thing they aim for is finding her and keeping her.
Jide, a property developer lives with his fiancée of 4 years, Abi. He’s a workaholic who hardly spends time with Abi. He loves her to death and wants to marry her, but oblivious to him, she has a dark secret.
Fred,an entrepreneur lives the lifestyle of a young millionaire. He cruises in the latest cars in town. Owns a few bars from west London to north London. Hes a big spender who loves to floss. But inside this larger than life character is a baby, crying to be loved and cared for. Fred cannot commit to a woman for fear of being heart broken and used. He feels every woman he meets is after his money. But he meets Michelle. Can he keep her?
Chike, a systems analyst works in one of london’s top prestigious software companies. He works hard and plays hard equally. He has ambitions of owning his own software company. He’s a self proclaimed player who has little or no respect for women. He lives a comfortable life,loves flashy fast cars and WOMEN. He has a 6yr old son from a previous relationship. But what happens when he meets Simone, an independent, sophisticated woman.

For more information: www.godsonmedia.com

Dutch television host criticised for impersonating a black woman

Is it blackface or not, that is the question. Dutch television host Wendy van Dijk transformed herself into a stereotype black Antillean woman to fool Dutch Celebs. She called her Lucretia Martine, the weather woman from Curaçao. It was a transformation like Eddy Murphy did in the Nutty Professor. But there is one big difference, Wendy van Dijk is a white woman.

The television show is a big hit in Holland, already 2 million viewers watched the first show. But not everyone is happy with Van Dijk's creation. Surinam Actress and Singer Lucretia van der Vloot and and Author Clarck called it ridiculous.



Within the Surinamese and Antillean community there is criticism that Van Dijk stereotyped Antillean women: thick lips, fat ass, lazy, and always talking about sex.

But the criticism of Van der Vloot and Accord is not about the fact that she impersonated a black woman, but that she played an Antillean woman, but talked as Surinam woman. Which is the same as playing an American woman, but talking like a Jamaican. Writer Accord feels that Van Dijk should have known better, because she went to a black urban school in Amsterdam Bijlmer.

Wendy van Dijk’s act also sparked criticism on the media in general. At this moment Van Dijk’s Antillean woman is the only 'black' woman on Dutch television. Black people aren't underrepresented they have become totally absent on Dutch television.

Van Dijk says she doesn't understand the criticism: "I am only trying to play a funny, independent and well spoken woman."

The marketing agency of the Dutch Antillean island Curacao is happy with Van Dijk’s Curaçao woman act. They have offered her a contract to promote the Island.

Van Dijk also played a Japanese woman called Ushi, Lucreatia Martina, the weather woman from Curaçao, is her latest creation.

Update: see the interesting discussion on Shadowandact about blackface and and the Dutch Antillean character here

Bonnie Greer versus the extreme right-wing BNP (UK)

BBC One's Question Time on October 22 was one of the most controversial television events this month. Live on television, the leader of the extreme right-wing British National Party(BNP) on the panel of the BBC's Question Time. Also on the panel was black British American playwright Bonnie Greer.

The BNP's website referred to Greer as a "black history fabricator" for her work on the radio documentary In Search of the Black Madonna, which was, it said, an "Afrocentrist daydream".

Back to BBC's Question Time. To be honest it wasn't a strong performance of Greer. She said." I don't know much about politics, my background is culture." And it showed. But also a line as," Nick and I, both have an undergraduate degree in history". Nick and I? That's not the way you talk about someone who is an honoured guest of the KKK.

We know that Greer hates the BNP, but she is culture, so let her stick to that. Don't ask her to debate with a notorious racist.

read: BNP leader Nick Griffin savaged by Question Time panellist Bonnie Greer

In the video she discusses the claim of the BNP that Winston Churchill could have been a member of the BNP. Churchill had made some anti-immigration remarks.

German reporter criticised for posing as black man in film

German reporter Günter Wallraff spent over a year travelling through Germany disguised as fictional Somalian man Kwami Ogonno for the film Schwarz auf Weiss ( Black on White ). His goal was to experience racisme at first hand, so he put on a blackface for the occasion.

And he succeeded. In East-Germany – of course - he was attacked by drunken youth. Read the full story here.

But Afro-German Noah Sow, author of Deutschland Black & White, criticised Walraff: “A painted white person is not a black person and cannot have the same experiences even if he thinks he can,” said Noah Sow, author of Everyday Racism in Germany . “Wallraff is earning money and respect on the backs of oppressed minorities.”

If you're not acquainted with Germany this film may seem as an eye opener, but racism in Germany doesn't need to be uncovered. Long before the 2006 FIFA World cup football tournament even the FIFA warned people of colour to stay away from the “rural areas” in East German Berlin.

And Günter? I think he wanted to be on the news again, but this time with a racism show with hidden cameras. If he really wanted to expose racism he could have used the black guy in the film. But I think the sole purpose of this black man was just to legitimate his blackface.

See shots of the film in the interview (German)

Last Moroccan leaves the Netherlands

What if all the Moroccans in the Netherlands were to pack up and leave? This is the question posed by an internet video.

In the video A man cycles in his dressing gown to collect his own newspaper from a pile in the street – the Moroccan delivery man has left the country. Streets are strewn with litter, buildings fall into disrepair. Stranded commuters queue for taxis, with no one left to drive them. “Last Moroccan leaves today,” reads the newspaper headline, as a plane overhead flies south. “Last Moroccan leaves the Netherlands”

Moroccans tend to feature in the Dutch media as young criminals, causing nuisance in the street, hurling abuse at gays and women, and carrying out muggings and robberies. Or indeed as Muslims struggling to integrate, in a debate driven by anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right Freedom Party. Mr Wilders has said he would not hesitate to deport Muslims who commit crimes or fail to integrate into Dutch society – and his party is riding high in the polls.

An interesting video of a minority group under pressure. But for a community who has been in the Netherlands since the sixties, it is very one sided view. It seems that they will only be missed if the newspaper is not being delivered anymore.

Although their unemployment rate is the highest of all minority groups the Netherlands, there is a large group of young and ambitious Moroccans who are successfully entering the professional sector. This video is more a street view.

I wonder how a video entitled "Last black person leaves Europe" would look like.

Read “Last Moroccan leaves the Netherlands”

Interview Spike Lee: "I wasn't the one that put blackface on Judy Garland."

It has been 20 years since the release of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. So for the occasion Spike Lee was interviewed by Jason Solomons of the Guardian. In the interview Lee talks about Do The Right Thing, other films and Obama.

In the interview he also talks about a film which is very relevant today. It's the blackface film Bamboozled, a satirical film about a modern televised minstrel show featuring black actors donning blackface makeup and the violent fall-out from the show's success. The film - of course - is relevant because of the recent Vogue issue and the blackface Australian performance of the Jackson Five. In the interview Jason Solomons said that some people found this film a very angry film, Lee replied, "I wasn't the one who put blackface on Judy Garland."

On YouTube I found the video montage of the black face shots used in the film Bamboozled. You sometimes wonder how people can use black face and call it 'artistic'. (See all videos below.)



Do The Right Thing (1989)
Lee: Do The Right Thing takes place in hottest day of the summer. We wanted the people to be sweating while they watched this film.


Fight the power (theme song)
Lee: I knew I wanted an anthem, so I called Chuck D and he came back with this classic. It's really the theme at that time of young black America. In 1989 Fight the power was the only song you heard that summer.


The Toy (1982)
Interviewer: Back in 89 black filmmakers were struggling to be heard. Black actors were struggling to get out of ghetto parts.
Lee: A very important individual, people don't really acknowledge, is Michael Schultz. He was our only African American director in Hollywood at that time. He made a lot of hit films of Richard Prior. Prior was a big star in Hollywood.
Interviewer: They had to had to give him a white buddy, Gene Wilder.
Lee: “The worst was the film The Toy (1982), where he was bought by rich white man as a toy for his child.


Soul Plane (2000)
Interviewer: Do you think, that because of Do The Right Thing, that kind of film will ...
Lee: Hé hé, they still make some of this stuff. You ever heard of a film called Soul Plane?



Malcolm X (1992)
Lee on Malcom X: This is biggest run I've done so far. People said, don't mess it up.


Bamboozled (2000)
Interviewer: One of my favourites is Bamboozled (2000). One of the least seen, one of the most angry.
Lee: One of my favourite films too, very funny film.
Interviewer: Black film makers, black activist say it comes a big angry.
Lee: I don’t know it was angry. I wasn't the one who put blackface on Judy Garland, Mickey Roony and Bugs Buny.



(The film below is a video montage of the blackface shots used in the film Bamboozled)

You sometimes wonder how people can use black face and call it artistic.

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Interviewer: The film Do The Right Thing has shaped the politics of Obama.
Lee: Well I don't know if it has shaped his politics. People forget that the best film in 1989, according to the academy, was Driving miss Daisy. A film no one has seen, no one is watching that today.


La Hain (1995) - The Hait
Lee: The one film I have issue with is La Hain (1995). That film was a complete rip off of Do The Right Thing. The director Mathieu Kassovitz has never acknowledged it. He said he never saw it. When you see Do The Right Thing, it's an homage.


More Bamboozled

Quote of the film. In the film the white boss says to the black screen writer: “I grew up around black people my whole life, the truth is know N*gers more then you. And don't go getting offended by me using the word N***. I have a black wife and two Bi-racial kids so I feel I have the right.”

Spike Lee: “I never drank that post-racial Kool Aid”

An interview with Spike Lee and BBC Newsnight’s Jeremy Paxman on changing race relations in America since Lee made "Do The Right Thing". In the interview which aired a month ago, the two argue about the impact of Barack Obama’s election on modern day racism.

A very interesting interview, the idea that racism is something of the past seems to infuriate him.


Spotted on Soulculture

Queendom: Black female and Norwegian

On October 14th the Norwegian group Queendom had the television premiere of their comedy series for TV-action 2009. Queendom has written the script and plays all the supporting roles. Place of action is Sogndalstrand in Norway and Bagamoyo in Tanzania,the themes are women, Africa, development aid and multicultural Norway.

Queendom about Queendom: “Queendom is based in Oslo, Norway, and draws on the talent and experience of five performing artists with backgrounds from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda, Trinidad and Gambia. The group was established in 1999 and is unique in that it represents the first time young, black women have set up their own performing arts group in Norway. The members of the group are professional actors, journalists, singers and songwriters.



Queendom aims to raise the profile of black women by creating both socially aware and entertaining performances. Our shows touch on themes relevant to our everyday lives in Norway, such as racism, identity and women’s issues. While most of our material is original we also present a selection of texts and music written by other black artists - both in Norwegian and English. Through humour, satire, poetry and song, we wish to raise the level of awareness and understanding between men and women of all ethnic backgrounds.”

Queendom performers:
Hannah Wozene Kvam, born 1972 - background Ethiopia
Asta Busingye Lydersen, born 1970 - background Uganda / Norway
Isabell Dahlsveen Sterling, born 1972 - background Trinidad / Norway
Monica Ifejilika, born 1977 - background Nigeria / Norway
Haddy Jatou N'jie, born 1979 - background Gambia, Norway

Read the review of Queendom on Jamati

Website Queendom
Queendom on Myspace

Haddy Jatou N´jie

Generation Next: Young black men in the media (UK)

A foundation that aims to empower urban young people in the UK has made a documentary about how young black men are portrayed in the media.

The Generation Next Foundation has produced the film to mark Black History Month.

The Lambeth-based foundation was set up by two brothers - Hamdi and Ludvig Bonin - and aims to drive positive social change to help young people achieve their potential.

The film, called Minority Report, will be screened at City Hall on Friday, followed by a panel discussion with Conservative London Assembly Member James Cleverly, the Mayor's ambassador for young people, and Chuka Umunna, Labour's candidate for the Streatham seat at the next election, who is also a trustee of the Generation Next Foundation. Read press release

The Generation Next Foundation is a non profit organization that was formed in 2008. The Generation Next Foundation has been founded to provide opportunities for the youth within our community. We believe that it is imperative to empower the youth in society so they have the tools to achieve their highest potential.

http://www.gnextfoundation.co.uk/

StrangerFestival: Dutch videomakers sign up now!

For the second time the StrangerAcademy opens its doors in Amsterdam, this year from 13 - 17 October 2009.

Over 150 video-makers between the ages of 15 and 25 from across Europe will together improve their skills in video and storytelling. They will all take part in one of the professional-led StrangerAcademy workshops and show their work to an audience of experts and other video fans. All participants stay in the Stayokay hostel ajoining the festival location (Studio K, Timorplein, Amsterdam Oost).

Programme preview Strangeracademy: click here.
Participants of the StrangerAcademy are the finalists of the StrangerFestival competition, talented video makers selected by our international partners and Dutch talented young video makers. Dutch video makers can still sign up!How? sent an email to puck@eurocult.org and ask for the registration form, or copy the text below & sign up.

One of the conditions for signing up is you have to upload at least 1 self-made video on this website... you can also sign up when you have NOT uploaded a video and you take part in a beginner workshop. More info in the registration form.

Dutch videomakers click here