Watch this short film to learn some tricks of the trade and weigh up the pros and cons of making a movie on your phone. You'll see some nifty apps and cool attachments to make filming look polished - but the drawbacks include gobbling up memory and time it takes to process and edit on your phone. Pretty cool ideas anyway.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9710004.stm 

My colleagues response was probably typical of most peoples, "you're going to the cinema to see that? that's not what people go to the movies for!" And it's true... we wait for docos to appear on tv because, I suppose, we expect a bit of edutainment in front of the telly -somewhere between the news and a favourite sitcom, so who would pay 15 bucks to see a documentary on the big screen? 

By the end of the film, emotionally wrecked from bawling my eyes out for a good 45 mins (and then some after the closing credits), it hits me again that truth really really is stranger, more moving, more terrifying and perhaps more immediately meaningful than fiction. I know that's arguable, but had 'Brother Number One' been made into a drama or even a docudrama, the effect would have been massively diminished. 

Pol Pot was called 'Brother Number One' during his reign of terror in Cambodia in the mid 1970's - an affectionate Maoist nickname which belied the sinister crimes and genocide taking place under his dictatorship. A clever pun, the title of this film highlights a myriad of parallels and contrasts between the Kiwi traveller and the Cambodian regime, between Kerry himself and Rob tracing his footsteps from Whakatane to Darwin to (accidentally) Cambodia, between 'now' and 'then', between 'them' and 'us'.

I loved the way the story built up to several heart-wrenching and surprising revelations on it's way to the conclusion - perhaps catering for audiences like myself who only knew the bare bones of the tragic NZ story of Kerry (brother number 1)Hamill's capture and torture to death by the Khymer Rouge in 1978 - news that was revisited in 2009/10 when his brother (number 3) travelled to Cambodia for the trial of one of the KR's most brutal henchmen. The narrative followed Rob Hamill's journey to present his victim statement to the ECCC at the trial of Duch (pronounced 'dook'), head of the infamous Tuol Sleng (S-21) torture and prison (extermination) facility in Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Along the way we met Rob's family, Kerry's girlfriend at the time he went missing, many local Cambodians (both victims and KR), and of course, Duch himself. There is so much more to the story - a story that most of us are only familiar with from One News or a NZ Herald article. My tears were for Rob, Kerry, their family, and the millions of Cambodians who were affected by this unbelievable event. In my defence, my husband also cried, I doubt there was a dry eye in the room. Rob's quest wasn't only for justice, it was also a personal journey for him to lay his brother's ghost to rest. It was agonising at times to watch him desperate for information about where Kerry had been, who had seen him, how he was tortured, how he died and where his body may have been buried or burnt.

Besides the story itself being incredibly powerful, it resonated with me for a couple of personal reasons. There is a scene in the latter part of the film where we find out that the Hamill's only discovered the fate of their missing (for 2 years) son from a story on the front page of The Daily Post, (a Bay of Plenty newspaper I knew well having grown up in Rotorua). I was only 6 years old at the time, but I remember the story. And Whakatane wasn't that far away. I added to this my experience of visiting Cambodia early in 2002- I have seen Angkor Wat in Siem Riep and stayed in Phonm Penh for a few days - my friends and I visited Tuol Sleng and the killing fields, the memorials and museum -we were all struck very hard by the scale and horror of what happened there -and you wonder how such a holocaust could ever occur -and only 30 years after WWII - and how the international community could allow it to happen. 

I would choose to see a doco like this over most of Hollywood's rubbish anyday.

http://brothernumberone.co.nz/   

It's incredible how much social media has changed our lives in so many tangible ways. Although I can't help but think that while we highlight that there are 1.7billion internet users in the world - where does that leave the 5.2 billion others????

Woody Allen's new film is out at Rialto cinemas - it is a treat! But will mostly appeal to people who are familiar with the writers and artists of the early 20th century -the  likes of Hemmingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, Picasso, Miro - Cole Porter, Salvador Dali etc. An American writer is in Paris trying to find inspiration to write his first novel, and to come to terms with his relationship and impending marriage. He pines for a bygone era and during his midnight walks through the city, he comes face to face with these heavyweight heroes from the past. His nightly adventures lead him to a number of realisations which will change the course of his life.             For me it was a 4 star film. Loved it.

You might have heard about the American student, Amanda Knox, accused of murdering a fellow student (British) in Italy where they were both studying.
This blog has some great commentary on the media and their treatment of her story.
http://petesmediablog.blogspot.com/2011/10/amanda-knox-appeal-case-tabloid.html#!/2011/10/amanda-knox-appeal-case-tabloid.html

Happy reading and exploring - there are loads of good links to other media sites.

Another TED talk here http://www.ted.com/talks/lauren_zalaznick.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2011-09-21&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email

This one about the conscience of television - how tv relates to society - very helpful for the Level 3 study of 'Genre and Society' and the relationship between them.