2009 Dallas AFI International Film Festival and 2010 Dallas International Film Festival

When we first arrived in Dallas way back in March 2007 we were so excited about the Dallas AFI International Film Festival and as regular movie watchers, we have committed to the festival every year since then, you can read about our 2008 festival attendances here

For the sake of completeness; I was involved in the 2009 Dallas AFI International Film Festival. My only excuse is that maybe due to, "general busyness" I failed to blog about it. My fellow committed volunteer and friend and I, joined the Festival Committee Members and so we became involved with various fun events. We loved the bringing together of artists, film buffs, various communites in the Dallas Fort Worth area and beyond. We also attended a few movie screenings and loved the after show discussions. We saw Food Inc. at the 2009 Dallas AFI International Film Festival. This challenging and graphic film encouraged my interest in food production, distribution and consumption. I have recently read the inspiring "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. Ms Kingsolver inspired me to add to my Amazon wish list "Home Cheese Making" by Ricki Carroll. My aunt and fellow local food enthusiast fulfilled that particular wish. I am currently working on finding the time and courage to make cheese. I also intend to read Michael Pollan's "Omnivores Dilemma" it is on the book group list of books for this year. For another book group we just finished "Salt: A World History" by Mark Kurlansky. This very interesting historical read is not specifically about this subject but it does discuss the changes in food preservation, distribution and consumption as it relates to Salt. We just discussed this book with my group and we all agreed it is a great book for amazing historical anecdotes, which your friends and family will be really impressed with

I digress, but isn't that what is great about inspiring movies they can challenge and encourage you to take an interest and find out more. But going back to the film festival, for various reasons, scheduling and other commitments, sadly, we were unable to volunteer with the film festival this year, which has been re-branded as the "Dallas International Film Festival". This was also so that we could make the time to actually see more movies. Our favourites were:

1. My Tehran for Sale: An atmospheric and moving film, actually filmed undercover in Tehran. The soundtrack is brilliant as are the actors, a real insight into how people live in a part of the world many of us will probably never visit.

2. Documentary Shorts:

6: Two six-man football teams from some of the smallest towns in Texas are in Lubbock to compete for the state title.
A.45 at 50th: Actor and Activist James Cromwell relives his experience with Elbert 'Big Man' Howard, a key member of the Black Panther Party, during 1968.
Dig Deep: Artist Frank Campagna laments the destruction of an artistic landmark in Dallas' historic Deep Ellum neighborhood
Quadrangle: In the early ‘70s, two couples swap partners and live in a group marriage, hoping to pioneer an alternative to divorce.
The Shutdown: Alan Bissett recalls growing up next to one of Europe's largest petrochemical plants and the explosion that deformed his father.

I loved the documentary shorts selection this year, they were all brilliant in their own right. It was great to see a local short, "Dig Deep" about the mural artist, Frank Campagna The documentary inspired us to commit to attending both the Deep Ellum Arts and music festival which was a gorgeous sunny day, great art and music and introducing friends to the usefulness of the, Dallas Area Rapid Transit Service, DART. Here is the link to our photos. We also attended the Deep Ellum Art Walk, despite the rainy evening. Inspiring urban and contemporary art, including, an artist who produces great art on reclaimed billboards. Here is the link to our photos.

Photo courtesy of http://www.istockphoto.com/index.php

Are we still fighting the same tired old fights?

There have been a number of frustrating incidents in the last few weeks that have really made me wonder if we are regressing in relation to the progress made by women over the last few decades. Yes they are few, and there hasn’t exactly been a move to take the vote away from women, but it does feel as though we are revisiting issues and going back over too much old ground – why is this happening? And is this indicative of a wider cultural shift?

These are the issues that have particularly annoyed me......

Women on radio4 (and newsreaders in general)
Ceri Thomas, editor of the Today programme on radio 4 made comments about the need for a ‘thick skin’ to present Today, and that it was ‘too tough an environment for novices’. Thomas attempts to defend his position, but really, I don’t think it is something he can defend. He shouldn’t have said it. Zoe Williams writing in the guardian draws a striking comparison with Channel 4 news presenters, an excellent daily news programme, the editors of which seem utterly (and brilliantly) blind to the gender or ethnicity of their presenters. I’m a huge fan of the BBC – but it needs to wise up on this issue. Quickly.

Women and the election
What has happened to all the women MPs? The women who are actually quite senior in this government? The women who ought to be senior and prominent in the next government – whatever shade it is?? Jackie Ashley sums it up in this short article.

Leaders wives – we really don’t place the same emphasis on the partner of the Prime Minister in the UK as people in the US do on the ‘first lady’ and I personally think that’s a good thing, because who wants to be defined by what their partner does and the choices that he (or she) makes? Dennis Thatcher was generally left to play golf and drink. Cherie Blair had a hate/hate relationship with the media. None of the same can’t be said of Sarah Brown, who has brilliantly managed to navigate the pitfalls of being married to the PM, and has carved out a strong, independent role for herself – supportive yet separate. However, despite my admiration for @SarahBrown10, there has been way way too much boring and unnecessary coverage and media infatuation with the leaders wives in the build up to this election. No, Samantha Cameron’s pregnancy really shouldn’t (and I hope won’t) impact on the way people vote, Miriam Gonzales should be applauded for staying away from the election trail, continuing her career and life and protecting her children. And I don’t give a figgin about what any of them are wearing either. The media need to stop hyping this non issue.

Feminism vs womanism?
Yes young women don’t identify with ‘feminism’. It’s up to all of us to try and change that by actively talking about what it means to be a feminist. Agreed. Feminism doesn’t mean you hate men. Nor is it the case that if you are a feminist you are white (brilliant feminist blog the f word features posts from people of all sorts backgrounds, interests, ethnicity, disability etc) .

But apparently for some ‘womanism’ is apparently more accessible to non-white women then feminism. Seriously?? Really? What happened to solidarity?? *weeps* I have never done gender studies or any real academic exposure to feminism - and frankly the more academics of all hues insist on discussing feminism in such a theoretical way the more feminists and potential feminists are put off.


And finally, depressingly – abortion and the 24 week rule
Thanks David Cameron. Why why why??? Wasn’t it bad enough this was debated a couple of years ago? Unnecessarily pandering and posturing on exactly the wrong issue. This country does not need it, and it should not become a party political issue.

GE2010 coverage
I don’t think that we’ll be dedicating that much blog space to the UK general election campaigns of the main parties, and we certainly won’t get into specific ‘party’ political comment, sticking mostly to debating issues we are passionate about. But for interesting and varied electoral coverage do go and visit our friends over at Arbitrary Constant (also Chris Addisons blog is pretty good fun too)

May 6, 2010 – it’s a date

The date is finally set, he met the Queen. I really do wonder what was said? But far more importantly than that, we have renewed our postal vote so hopefully we will receive our ballots, I will be on the lookout. It is a little difficult to get excited from across the pond. Particularly in light of the recent historic election here, the political leaders at home just don’t seem to inspire in the same way. But maybe that is a good thing, it is vital to focus on the policies and not the personalities. The scary trend in politics does seem to be that the cult of personality becomes so great that many may know who they are voting for but not what they are voting for. This is great website to help focus the mind on the policies: http://voteforpolicies.org.uk/.

If we don't at the very least vote we don’t get a say so. Vote. It’s about all of us, our NHS, our schools, our environment, our involvement in the world, our taxes, our economy, our jobs, our homes, all our lives. I say “ours” as we plan to return, under which Government remains an open question, at least until May 6, 2010.