 Artist: George Duke: mp3 download Genre(s): Jazz: Funk Jazz R&B: Soul George Duke's discography:  Duke Year: 2005 Tracks: 11  Face The Music Year: 2002 Tracks: 10  Is Love Enough? Year: 1997 Tracks: 14  Illusions Year: 1995 Tracks: 13  Snapshot Year: 1992 Tracks: 13  Guardian Of The Light Year: 1983 Tracks: 13  Dream On Year: 1982 Tracks: 10  Master Of The Game Year: 1979 Tracks: 9  Reach For It Year: 1977 Tracks: 11  Rendezvous Year: Tracks: 9 George Duke showed a great care of promise early in his career as a jazz piano player and keyboardist, simply has forsaken that form to be a come out producer. Inspired early on by Les McCann, he worked with a triplet in San Francisco during the mid-'60s. In 1969, Duke accompanied Jean-Luc Ponty, recording with the violinist. After ashcan School months with Don Ellis' Orchestra, he linked Frank Zappa for much of 1970. Duke worn-out 1971-1972 with Cannonball Adderley and then returned to Zappa for 1973-1975. In 1975, he worked with Sonny Rollins, co-led a radical with Billy Cobham, and then formed a funk circle (the Clarke-Duke Project) with Stanley Clarke. By the late '70s, he was whole outside of jazz, playing R&B and producing projects for pop artists. Although he has since expressed pastime in reversive to active playing, small of George Duke's post-1976 work on is relevant to malarky. |
Sunday 7 September 2008
Mp3 music: George Duke
Thursday 28 August 2008
Mp3 music: Taake
 Artist: Taake: mp3 download Genre(s): Metal: Death,Black Metal: Gothic Other Taake's discography:  Bjoergvin Year: 2002 Tracks: 7  Nattestid... Year: 1999 Tracks: 7  Nattestid Ser Porten Vid Year: 1999 Tracks: 7 Norwegian black metallic element band Taake is chiefly the make of vocaliser and multi-instrumentalist U. Høst, wHO founded the chemical group in 1993 amid the blizzard of church service burnings and other crimes virtually creditworthy for launch the scene. Recruiting drummer Svartulv, over the undermentioned three eld Høst recorded a nonparallel of demos steeped in ancient Viking traditional knowledge and ruthlessly brutal black metal values. Finally debuting commercially in 1996 with the Koldbrann I Jesu Marg E.P. (featuring newfangled drummer/bassist Tundra), Taake went on to discharge deuce uncut albums, 1999's Nattestid and 2002's Bjoergvin, before Høst left hand to join companion Norwegian black metallers Ragnarok as vocaliser. |
Monday 18 August 2008
OK! Exclusive: Jamie Spears Breaks His Silence
For the first sentence since re-entering Britney Spears's life as her conservator, her dada Jamie Spears is talk exclusively to OK! near his clamber to help his girl re-gain control of her life.
Brit's pappa is recounting everything � from what he thinks of Kevin Federline, to when he hopes the conservatorship will end, to how his relationship with Britney is today.
"We've adult a raft," Jamie tells OK!. "I've been able to come back into my daughter's life, and that was an registration anyway, because I'm an alcoholic and it's the first sentence we've very been able to share."
Jamie, world Health Organization initially affected into Britney's Studio City home at the beginning of the conservatorship, says he no longer has to live in the house.
"I don't stay here anymore," he says. "Every now and then, I'll stay if we experience something early in the morning we have to do. "
Jamie says both Brit and K-Fed wanted to annul going to trial over their hands dispute, and that in the end it came down to negotiating how much time Brit wanted with their sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James.
"It made no gumption for that trial to proceed so we worked out an agreement," he tells OK!. "The correspondence says that on Oct. 1 we'll probably get another overnight, and that will abide in position until the end of the year or the end of the conservatorship."
As for his feelings about Kevin, Jamie says, "Kevin has a wonderful philia. I don't agree with giving him more money.... He wants them to raise these kids unitedly. Kevin's heart is right."
Currently, Britney has the boys on Monday, Wednesday and an overnight on Friday. As Britney's conservator, Jamie accompanies every visit. The conservatorship is in shoes through the end of the year, but Jamie says he's hopeful that his girl will make a shoes where she no thirster needs it.
"I would hope that it stands until the ending of the year, and then we'll sit bet on and appraise where we are at the time, where Britney is at that time," he tells OK!.
Jamie admits the conservatorship was a major adjustment for Britney, just in a twist of fate, has given them both a chance to grow unitedly as father and daughter.
"It's wonderful. It's new for both of us," he explains. "She sometimes calls me 50 times a day and asks me things that light my life up. But, like all daughters, she is very manipulative and clever. So she gets what she wants a lot."
Britney's progress has been monumental, thanks in large part to her father taking the legal steps to get hold of over her life. But, at the end of the day, Jamie is just a dad, trying to protect his daughter.
"I do understand that my baby made this monster," he says, adding, "But when she was down, people took advantage."
�
More information
Friday 8 August 2008
Sixshot Bits: Brief News On Ludacris, Kanye West, Method Man, Slim Thug & Big Boi
Method Man will be making a guest appearance in the current season of USA's Burn Notice.
According to Daily Variety, the Wu-Tang rapper will be playing a record industry executive who suspects an employee is stealing from him.
PART DEUX
More info
Tuesday 1 July 2008
A Fall Out Boy for Ashlee & Pete?
Are Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz expecting a Fall Out Boy?
That's what it seems like, according to their baby registry, CelebTV.com reports.
The newlyweds stopped by baby boutqiue Petit Tresor last month to prep their list and �almost everything [they picked out] is blue.�
Ashlee and Pete also weren't trying very hard to keep it a secret either, a salesperson adds.
�They made it very clear that it was a boy," the source says.
Also telling? One of the Plain Mary bibs they snatched up was emblazoned with the word "Hunk."
In addition to that, the musical lovebirds bought other bibs labeled "Loved" and "Yummy" and a handful of t-shirts as well.
The couple tied the knot in an Alice in Wonderland-inspired ceremony on May 17. They finally confirmed their pregnancy two weeks later after months of speculation.
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Tuesday 10 June 2008
Victory
Artist: Victory
Genre(s):
Rock
Metal: Heavy
Rock: Hard-Rock
Discography:
Fuel To The Fire
Year: 2006
Tracks: 13
Instinct
Year: 2003
Tracks: 11
You Bought It -You Named It
Year: 1992
Tracks: 10
You Bought it - You name it
Year: 1992
Tracks: 10
Temples Of Gold
Year: 1990
Tracks: 15
Culture Killed The Native
Year: 1988
Tracks: 12
Hungry Hearts
Year: 1987
Tracks: 10
Don't Get Mad - Get Even
Year: 1986
Tracks: 10
Victory
Year: 1985
Tracks: 9
Wednesday 4 June 2008
SAG Signing Waivers With Indies
The Screen Actors Guild has signed some 300 deals with independent film producers that will allow actors tocontinueworking after June 30, the day the SAG's contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is set to expire, Daily Variety reported today (Wednesday). The trade publication observed that the number of waivers guarantees that at least a "modicum" of work will continue through the summer. Meanwhile, SAG resumed negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers that had been on a three-day hiatus since Friday.
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See Also
Thursday 29 May 2008
Sunday 25 May 2008
Sex And The City - The Things They Say 8388
"I'm in a business where beauty and youth are obsessed over, but I'm not worrying about getting wrinkles. We can get ripped to pieces for showing the slightest imperfection and that's not only unfair, it's also setting an impossible standard to live up to." SEX AND THE CITY star SARAH JESSICA PARKER on the pressure heaped on Hollywood actresses to look good.
See Also
Ill Logic and Raf feat Don E
Artist: Ill Logic and Raf feat Don E
Genre(s):
Drum & Bass
Discography:
Double Zero (DZR004R)
Year: 2006
Tracks: 2
Man who took Lost star hostage pleads guilty
Rapper "Slick Rick" granted pardon by NY governor
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Gov. David Paterson has granted British-born rapper "Slick Rick" a full and unconditional pardon for attempted murder and weapons convictions to help him avoid deportation.
The rapper, whose real name is Ricky Walters, served six years of a possible 10-year sentence after pleading guilty in 1991 to two counts of attempted murder and eight weapons offenses for shooting his cousin and an innocent bystander.
Walters, who moved to the United States at age 11 and whose hits include "Children's Story" and "La-Di-Da-Di," opened fire on his cousin in a crowded New York City street. The bystander was hit in the foot.
He was released from prison in 1997 and discharged from parole supervision in 2000. Since then, Walters has been fighting deportation for his convictions.
"Mr. Walters has fully served the sentence imposed upon him for his convictions, had an exemplary disciplinary record while in prison and on parole, and has been living without incident in the community for more than 10 years," Paterson said in a statement on Friday.
"In that time, he has volunteered at youth outreach programs to counsel youth against violence, and has become a symbol of rehabilitation for many young people," he said.
Under federal law, legal immigrants to the United States convicted of an aggravated felony or a weapon offense must be deported. For certain offenses, deportation can be avoided by a Governor's pardon. But for weapon offenses, a non-citizen must make an appeal before an immigration court.
Paterson urged immigration officials to grant 43-year-old Walters "relief from deportation" so he is not separated from his American wife and their two teenage children.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols)
The rapper, whose real name is Ricky Walters, served six years of a possible 10-year sentence after pleading guilty in 1991 to two counts of attempted murder and eight weapons offenses for shooting his cousin and an innocent bystander.
Walters, who moved to the United States at age 11 and whose hits include "Children's Story" and "La-Di-Da-Di," opened fire on his cousin in a crowded New York City street. The bystander was hit in the foot.
He was released from prison in 1997 and discharged from parole supervision in 2000. Since then, Walters has been fighting deportation for his convictions.
"Mr. Walters has fully served the sentence imposed upon him for his convictions, had an exemplary disciplinary record while in prison and on parole, and has been living without incident in the community for more than 10 years," Paterson said in a statement on Friday.
"In that time, he has volunteered at youth outreach programs to counsel youth against violence, and has become a symbol of rehabilitation for many young people," he said.
Under federal law, legal immigrants to the United States convicted of an aggravated felony or a weapon offense must be deported. For certain offenses, deportation can be avoided by a Governor's pardon. But for weapon offenses, a non-citizen must make an appeal before an immigration court.
Paterson urged immigration officials to grant 43-year-old Walters "relief from deportation" so he is not separated from his American wife and their two teenage children.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols)
State Legislation Impacts Creative Economy Initiative
New provisions include tax incentives to creative companies
DETROIT, May 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Southeast Michigan's creative
business community will get a boost as a result of Governor Granholm's
signature on a series of bills that would make creative businesses eligible
for state MEGA tax credits.
Signed into law yesterday, Public Act 108 of 2008, sponsored by Senator
Jud Gilbert (R-Algonac), will have a significant impact on Southeast
Michigan's efforts to develop creative economy jobs by broadening the
definition of businesses eligible for MEGA credits to include those in the
creative sector. Senators Jason Allen (R-Traverse City) and Hansen Clarke
(D-Detroit) played a vital role in the success of this legislation and lead
the advocacy to include the creative businesses for the MEGA eligibility.
Creative businesses have been defined as:
Architecture and design including architectural design, graphic design,
interior design, fashion design, and industrial design
Digital media including internet publishing and broadcasting, video
gaming, web development, entertainment technology
Advertising and marketing firms including advertising and marketing
agencies, public relations agencies, and display advertising
Music production including record production and development, sound
recording studios, and integrated high-tech record production and
distribution
Film and video including motion picture and video production and
distribution, postproduction services, and teleproduction and production
services
Businesses meeting these criteria will be eligible for high-tech and/or
high-wage MEGA credits which are credits against the Michigan Business Tax.
A high-wage business is a business that has an average wage of 300% or more
of the federal minimum wage.
The bills take immediate effect.
"In this new economy based on innovation and globalization, progressive
leaders
recognize that creativity now drives global competitiveness," said Doug
Rothwell, president of Detroit Renaissance, lead advocates for amending the
bill to include the creative sector.
"Those communities that can develop and sustain an environment in which
its creative talent can thrive will be able to most effectively drive
economic development success - both because of job growth in specific
creative industries and because communities with a dynamic, creative soul
attract high impact employers and talented, skilled employees."
"These incentives will encourage creative business enterprises to
consider Michigan and bring new opportunities to attract new media and
advertising companies to locate in our state," said James C. Epolito,
President and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. "We now
can promise our most talented writers, film-makers and artists new job
opportunities that were previously only available elsewhere."
Rothwell noted that globally, creative industries are estimated to
account for more than 7% of the World's GDP and the annual growth of the
creative industries is twice that of the service industries and four times
that of the manufacturing industries.
Developing Detroit's creative economy is one of the main
recommendations of Detroit Renaissance's Road to Renaissance, a plan to
transform Southeast Michigan's economy.
Other aspects of the initiative currently underway are:
-- Create a comprehensive, region-wide asset map and web portal of Greater
Detroit's creative sector
-- Develop a Creative Corridor on Woodward Avenue that acts as a platform
and catalyst to, among other things, attract and retain talent,
stimulate creative community output, and increase the presence of
creative industries in Detroit and the region
-- Establish a Creative Business Accelerator within the Creative Corridor
-- Develop a business attraction strategy to increase the density of
creative economy enterprises
-- Launch a branding and marketing program to showcase Greater Detroit as a
major hub of the world's creative economy
More announcements about plan progress will be made in early summer.
About Detroit Renaissance:
Detroit Renaissance provides leadership to accelerate the economic
transformation of Detroit and Southeast Michigan. Renaissance accomplishes
this work through serving as a catalyst to develop growth strategies,
advocating for those strategies and championing specific initiatives that
accelerate growth. A 501(c)(3) organization that was formed in 1970,
Detroit Renaissance includes the chief executive officers of the region's
most significant employers and universities. For more information, visit
http://www.detroitrenaissance.com.
DETROIT, May 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Southeast Michigan's creative
business community will get a boost as a result of Governor Granholm's
signature on a series of bills that would make creative businesses eligible
for state MEGA tax credits.
Signed into law yesterday, Public Act 108 of 2008, sponsored by Senator
Jud Gilbert (R-Algonac), will have a significant impact on Southeast
Michigan's efforts to develop creative economy jobs by broadening the
definition of businesses eligible for MEGA credits to include those in the
creative sector. Senators Jason Allen (R-Traverse City) and Hansen Clarke
(D-Detroit) played a vital role in the success of this legislation and lead
the advocacy to include the creative businesses for the MEGA eligibility.
Creative businesses have been defined as:
Architecture and design including architectural design, graphic design,
interior design, fashion design, and industrial design
Digital media including internet publishing and broadcasting, video
gaming, web development, entertainment technology
Advertising and marketing firms including advertising and marketing
agencies, public relations agencies, and display advertising
Music production including record production and development, sound
recording studios, and integrated high-tech record production and
distribution
Film and video including motion picture and video production and
distribution, postproduction services, and teleproduction and production
services
Businesses meeting these criteria will be eligible for high-tech and/or
high-wage MEGA credits which are credits against the Michigan Business Tax.
A high-wage business is a business that has an average wage of 300% or more
of the federal minimum wage.
The bills take immediate effect.
"In this new economy based on innovation and globalization, progressive
leaders
recognize that creativity now drives global competitiveness," said Doug
Rothwell, president of Detroit Renaissance, lead advocates for amending the
bill to include the creative sector.
"Those communities that can develop and sustain an environment in which
its creative talent can thrive will be able to most effectively drive
economic development success - both because of job growth in specific
creative industries and because communities with a dynamic, creative soul
attract high impact employers and talented, skilled employees."
"These incentives will encourage creative business enterprises to
consider Michigan and bring new opportunities to attract new media and
advertising companies to locate in our state," said James C. Epolito,
President and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. "We now
can promise our most talented writers, film-makers and artists new job
opportunities that were previously only available elsewhere."
Rothwell noted that globally, creative industries are estimated to
account for more than 7% of the World's GDP and the annual growth of the
creative industries is twice that of the service industries and four times
that of the manufacturing industries.
Developing Detroit's creative economy is one of the main
recommendations of Detroit Renaissance's Road to Renaissance, a plan to
transform Southeast Michigan's economy.
Other aspects of the initiative currently underway are:
-- Create a comprehensive, region-wide asset map and web portal of Greater
Detroit's creative sector
-- Develop a Creative Corridor on Woodward Avenue that acts as a platform
and catalyst to, among other things, attract and retain talent,
stimulate creative community output, and increase the presence of
creative industries in Detroit and the region
-- Establish a Creative Business Accelerator within the Creative Corridor
-- Develop a business attraction strategy to increase the density of
creative economy enterprises
-- Launch a branding and marketing program to showcase Greater Detroit as a
major hub of the world's creative economy
More announcements about plan progress will be made in early summer.
About Detroit Renaissance:
Detroit Renaissance provides leadership to accelerate the economic
transformation of Detroit and Southeast Michigan. Renaissance accomplishes
this work through serving as a catalyst to develop growth strategies,
advocating for those strategies and championing specific initiatives that
accelerate growth. A 501(c)(3) organization that was formed in 1970,
Detroit Renaissance includes the chief executive officers of the region's
most significant employers and universities. For more information, visit
http://www.detroitrenaissance.com.
Officials confident of Oscars deal
Organisers of the Oscars remain confident that this awards ceremony will go ahead as planned, despite the cancellation of the Golden Globes.
The executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has said Oscars officials are hopeful of a deal with striking writers that will allow the show to go ahead.
"At this stage we are still making our plans as normal," Bruce Davis told AFP.
The feud between writers and producers claimed its highest profile casualty on Monday when it was confirmed that this weekend's Golden Globes ceremony, a key highlight of the Hollywood movie awards season, had been scrapped.
The decision to replace the event with a press conference came after Hollywood's actors union, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), announced that stars would not cross picket lines surrounding the show erected by the Writers Guild of America (WGA).
The WGA has already said its members will not be allowed to write the script for the Oscars - the film industry's biggest annual awards.
However, it has not yet confirmed if it will picket the show, which is being broadcast by the ABC network - one of the companies that is the subject of strike action.
The executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has said Oscars officials are hopeful of a deal with striking writers that will allow the show to go ahead.
"At this stage we are still making our plans as normal," Bruce Davis told AFP.
The feud between writers and producers claimed its highest profile casualty on Monday when it was confirmed that this weekend's Golden Globes ceremony, a key highlight of the Hollywood movie awards season, had been scrapped.
The decision to replace the event with a press conference came after Hollywood's actors union, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), announced that stars would not cross picket lines surrounding the show erected by the Writers Guild of America (WGA).
The WGA has already said its members will not be allowed to write the script for the Oscars - the film industry's biggest annual awards.
However, it has not yet confirmed if it will picket the show, which is being broadcast by the ABC network - one of the companies that is the subject of strike action.
Neil Young gets new honor -- his own spider
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Iconic singer and songwriter Neil Young has had an honor bestowed upon him that is not received by many musicians -- his own spider.
An East Carolina University biologist, Jason Bond, discovered a new species of trapdoor spider and opted to call the arachnid after his favorite musician, Canadian Neil Young, naming it Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi.
"There are rather strict rules about how you name new species," Bond said in a statement.
"As long as these rules are followed you can give a new species just about any name you please. With regards to Neil Young, I really enjoy his music and have had a great appreciation of him as an activist for peace and justice."
Young, 62, is a veteran rock musician who rose to fame in the 1960s with the band Buffalo Springfield and later became a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, whose 1970 release "Deja Vu" has become a classic rock album.
The singer/songwriter, whose solo work ranges from older albums such as "Harvest" to newer CDs like "Living with War," has long been an activist for social and anti-war causes.
Bond discovered the new spider species in Jefferson County, Alabama, in 2007. He said spiders in the trapdoor genus, who tend to live in burrows and build trap doors to seal off their living quarters, are distinguished from one species to the next on the basis of differences in genitalia.
He confirmed through the spider's DNA that the Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi is an identifiable, separate species of spider within the trapdoor genus.
Young is not the first musician to have a creature named after him. A species of beetle that looks as if it is wearing a tuxedo -- the whirligig beetle, or Orectochilus orbisonorum -- was named earlier this year after the late rock 'n' roll legend Roy Orbison and his widow Barbara.
Reuters/Nielsen
An East Carolina University biologist, Jason Bond, discovered a new species of trapdoor spider and opted to call the arachnid after his favorite musician, Canadian Neil Young, naming it Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi.
"There are rather strict rules about how you name new species," Bond said in a statement.
"As long as these rules are followed you can give a new species just about any name you please. With regards to Neil Young, I really enjoy his music and have had a great appreciation of him as an activist for peace and justice."
Young, 62, is a veteran rock musician who rose to fame in the 1960s with the band Buffalo Springfield and later became a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, whose 1970 release "Deja Vu" has become a classic rock album.
The singer/songwriter, whose solo work ranges from older albums such as "Harvest" to newer CDs like "Living with War," has long been an activist for social and anti-war causes.
Bond discovered the new spider species in Jefferson County, Alabama, in 2007. He said spiders in the trapdoor genus, who tend to live in burrows and build trap doors to seal off their living quarters, are distinguished from one species to the next on the basis of differences in genitalia.
He confirmed through the spider's DNA that the Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi is an identifiable, separate species of spider within the trapdoor genus.
Young is not the first musician to have a creature named after him. A species of beetle that looks as if it is wearing a tuxedo -- the whirligig beetle, or Orectochilus orbisonorum -- was named earlier this year after the late rock 'n' roll legend Roy Orbison and his widow Barbara.
Reuters/Nielsen
Social conscience in social setting
Paradox of watching films about poverty at Cannes
CANNES -- The films shown at the Festival de Cannes have always held up a mirror to the plight of people in the territories they hail from, sometimes in stark contrast to the excesses of the Croisette.
But this year more than ever, black-tie attendees are wrestling with the paradox of watching a film about poverty before heading off to indulge in the Cannes feeding frenzy and its accompanying displays of conspicuous wealth.
It may have been the coincidence of the earthquake in China and the cyclone in Burma just ahead of the fest that has encouraged this reflection. The inclusion of the documentary "The End of Poverty?" in the Critics Week sidebar -- a sort of "An Inconvenient Truth" for global economics -- no doubt further pricked the consciences of those who saw it. The film asks one simple question: With so much wealth in the world, why is there so much poverty?
"There's something a bit wrong about sitting in a room full of people with tuxedos watching a film about social deprivation," German director Andreas Dresen whose "Cloud 9" unspooled in Un Certain Regard told THR.
"It can seem paradoxical," said Festival de Cannes president Gilles Jacob. "But every day terrible things happen in the world that you watch on television during your dinner. If you really looked, you'd give up eating. It's no more shocking to continue eating while people are dying than it is going on the red carpet."
However audiences are dressed, social deprivation and strife were high on the menu this year. Walter Salles took Cannes audiences to the streets of Sao Paolo, while Matteo Garrone exposes the squalid lives some live in Naples -- incredibly part of a country that begins just 40 minutes' drive away from the Croisette.
Other movies spread through Cannes find characters variously eeking out existence in a Romanian hovel, scraping by on the Kazakh steppes, living homeless on the streets of France, enduring the rigors of an Argentine women's prison or dodging bullets as child-soldiers in Africa. Jury president Sean Penn, for his special movie selection, chose a documentary about volunteers in Sri Lanka dealing with the aftermath of the tsunami in 2004.
"There is a contrast, but it doesn't bother me," said Garrone, whose film "Gomorra" was well received In Competition. "Contrasts are interesting, and enjoying yourself here doesn't mean you can can't also give the correct importance to other things."
"When the [harrowing] films are over, you need a drink," said Focus CEO James Schamus. "It's a question you have to ask yourself everyday. We have a great advantage in our part of the industry in that what we want is to be greasing the wheels to get these issues out there in the mainstream."
French director and head of the Camera d'Or jury Bruno Dumont said: "I think there is a paradox. But that's the whole duplicity of ourselves; We are at once saints and bastards."
"I think principal cause of the external poverty in the world is our own poverty -- whether spiritual, political, democratic. We have a genuine poverty, and the only way to repair it is through art, through sensitivity. So Cannes is a holy place, because beautiful things are shown here," said Dumont.
Produced by California-based Cinema Libre Studio, "End of Poverty?" unspooled on Tuesday and was followed by a brief discussion of cinema and politics organized by Critics Week. The film provides some stark statistics: 25,000 people die around the world every day from hunger, one billion people live on less than a dollar a day, and one billion live in slums. Told in a conventional documentary style mainly through interviews with economists, historians and politicians, "End of Poverty?" sets out a powerful description of how Western policies since colonialism have subjugated Third World countries. "They are poor because we are rich," says Philippe Diaz who wrote and directed the film.
"The most important thing for us is to raise awareness. Ten years ago no one talked about climate change. After 'An Inconvenient Truth' it's now talked about all over the place," Diaz added.
"A good movie will leave you with a feeling that you are guilty, that you are not clean," said Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad ("Paradise Now"), whose short film "Participation" was screened during the Critics Week event and who joined Tuesday's debate. "We, the middle class of Europe, are the soldiers of the system. We are living the luxury life. Are we ready to leave some of our luxury to have more equality?" asked Abu-Assad.
International catastrophes have certainly encroached on the Croisette this year. The Marche du Film opening night party was dedicated to the victims of the China earthquake and a screening of Wong Kar Wai's "Ashes of Time Redux" was preceded by a well-observed minute's silence for the same cause. On Monday, monks marched on Cannes city hall to bemoan the plight of the cyclone-hit Burmese.
British producer Laura Hastings-Smith, whose movie "Hunger" opened Un Certain Regard and tells the story of hunger strikers in Northern Ireland, held a low-key party for the film, which was felt as more appropriate. "We didn't want to have a full blown party on the beach for our film," Hastings-Smith said. She said, however, it was important to celebrate the efforts of the filmmaking team and the achievement of getting the movie made.
Consciences have been pricked, awareness raised, but Cannes behavior is unlikely to change radically. "If you come to Cannes and you don't drink a glass of champagne, there's something wrong with you," said director Spike Lee. "If a guy happens to be here and he's made a film about poor people or tragedy or whatever, I don't think he diminishes it because of what he drinks. And if he makes a big sale here, I say, great, wonderful, drink a whole damn bottle of champagne."
Stuart Kemp, Eric J. Lyman and Scott Roxboroguh contributed to this report.
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