ezra winton

An honest Coca-Cola advert

Posted by in Advertising

Without a doubt, Coca-Cola is one of the worst companies on the planet. From its murderous human rights violations stamping out unions in Latin America (especially at Colombian bottling plants) to its marketing to youngsters to its environmental record (especially concerning water), it is hands down a terrible corporation getting away with incredible harm on this planet. So it’s refreshing indeed to see Killer Coke get its comeuppance in this amazing Australian Greenpeace TV advert about Coke and plastic pollution. While it’s not surprising that Coke is blocking a new…read more

May.15
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Trading songs for socks

Posted by in Art, Capital and Culture

Remember when crowd funding was a baby? It was an innocent but fierce little phenomenon that you would feed, along with a whole community, and lo and behold, a project would be raised, big and strong ready to tackle the world. Amazing things like literacy projects, art therapy, and independent documentaries were among the steadily highlighted cultural offerings on sites like Indiegogo.com. These days I look at my weekly emails (like the one to the left) from Indiegogo and I see nothing but entrepreneurs trying to raise money to sell…read more

Apr.28
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The fish farm conspiracy

Posted by in Doc Side, Environment

This is a great independent doc by a friend from British Columbia. It is absolutely shocking to see the lengths the provincial and federal governments are going to in order to not allow the dissemination of information about the role of BC fish farms in the destruction of wild salmon populations. According to the doc, wild salmon are being killed off in alarming numbers and independent studies show the diseases are linked to fish in West Coast farms, who are carrying viruses and pathogens from Norway. I’m particularly disturbed by…read more

Apr.27
1

Hot Docs turns twenty

Posted by in Art Threat, Festivals

IT WAS TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY It was a year like any other – the ceremonial swap between less liberal and more liberal leader of the US took place when Clinton picked up where Bush left off (launching a cruise missile attack on Iraq just half a year into his term and fine-tuning the ongoing regime of domestic and international deregulation for the next eight), Czechoslovakia emitted more post-Soviet fragmentation moans and became two independent states, North Korea announced its imminent withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and Canada saw…read more

Apr.24
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Apr.24
0

Hot Docs turns twenty

Posted by in Cinema, Doc Side, Festivals

Twenty years ago today, it was a year like any other. The ceremonial swap between less liberal and more liberal leader of the United States took place when Clinton picked up where Bush left off (launching a cruise missile attack on Iraq just half a year into his term and fine-tuning the ongoing regime of domestic and international deregulation for the next eight), Czechoslovakia emitted more post-Soviet fragmentation moans and became two independent states, North Korea announced its imminent withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and Canada saw the four-month…read more

Ya still cool

Posted by in Advertising

I can’t stand most advertising but this ad for a public bus service in Denmark is hands down the bomb. Hollywood pack your bags (and get on the bus).

Apr.20
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Black Sea pirates at Hot Docs

Posted by in Doc Side

Svetla and I are giddy with anticipation with the thought of attending the world premiere of a new doc by our Bulgarian friends Vanya and Svetlo, THE LAST OF THE BLACK SEA PIRATES at this year’s Hot Docs. If the film is half as good as the incredible trailer above, then we’re in for a real treat. The action takes place at our favourite beach in Bulgaria, a magical sandy place where the sun always shines and where crazy characters are in abundance.

Apr.18
0

Hidden riches of world’s wealthiest exposed

Posted by in World Inc.

Kudos to the Guardian and to the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists [ICIJ], for their ground-breaking investigative work that has now revealed the names of the world’s most questionable millionaires. In an era of austerity, with massive cuts to services, the arts, education, and labour in many countries, it’s sobering to know that world’s most exploitative and deviant have a safe haven in the Virgin Islands where they’ve stowed away trillions in secret vaults. I think I know how we can restore all that has been cut over the last…read more

Apr.17
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Representing addiction in documentary cinema

Posted by in Academix, Doc Side

In just under a month on May 11th, I’ll be speaking in Vancouver at a conference about the intersection of documentary, addiction, madness and social health. I’ll be speaking about NFB and activist docs and focusing on three new conceptual frames I’m developing in my documentary research: proximal empathy, hierarchies of harm and anti-gratification. I’m honoured that the organizers tracked me down and asked me to speak, and in between writing my dissertation I’ve been busy catching up on docs that depict addiction, madness and other perceived social problems. Documentary…read more

Apr.14
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The animals on our screen

Posted by in Doc Side

Over the last decade of programming political documentary for Cinema Politica I can say with confidence that there are two subjects that have always been decidedly divisive and caused the most vociferous backlash from audience members. One of those subjects is the ongoing illegal occupation of Palestine and the other is animal rights.

Apr.13
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