London’s thoroughfare is a tidal river, and when the river retreats, the mudlarks emerge. These mudlarks are people, and they find cool things: “A gold ornament from the 16th century, ancient Roman coins, shards of medieval pottery, prehistoric flint – these are just some of the thousands of historical treasures … Lara Maiklem has found searching the banks of London’s River Thames.” – NPR
Author: ArtsJournal2
The Royal New Zealand Ballet Will Perform Only Works By Women Choreographers This Season
It’s the first classical troupe in the world to make that choice. “‘Why not? There’s been all-men years for the past 150 years where only men choreograph,’ says Patricia Barker, the company’s artistic director, who has scheduled works by the legendary American choreographer Twyla Tharp and established New Zealand names, along with shows by up-and-coming creators.” – The Guardian (UK)
So, How Exactly Would BAFTA Voting Need To Change To Better Encourage Diversity?
There were 269 films that were eligible for awards nominations this year, and voters had watched, on average, about a quarter of them. “The current system leaves Bafta voters free to decide which of the eligible films they fancy seeing and which ones they will give a miss. At this point, Bafta nominations become entirely arbitrary and it maybe explains why some critically-acclaimed films without a massive promotional budget – such as The Farewell, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Last Black Man in San Francisco, and Us – missed out.” – BBC
Oscar Niemeyer’s Brasilia At Sixty
The city might not be so walkable, but for a concrete savannah laid out and built within four years, Brasília is holding up pretty darn well. “I worried before I visited Brasília that the huge expanses of space between the buildings would mean that it could be a little sterile, lacking in atmosphere, yet it’s an incredibly welcoming and open city.” (Architecturally, at least.) – The Observer (UK)
Some Of The Final Pre-Oscar Awards Go To ‘1917,’ Some To ‘Parasite,’ Some To ‘Jojo Rabbit’
While Parasite and Jojo Rabbit were winners at the Writers Guild Awards on Saturday night, Parasite and clear Oscars Best Picture frontrunner 1917 shared awards at the BAFTAs on Sunday. But even Prince William, the president of BAFTA, referred to the event’s lack of diversity as he introduced the final award” “In 2020 and not for the first time in the last few years, we find ourselves talking again about the need to do more to ensure diversity in the sector and in the awards process. … That simply cannot be right in this day and age.” – The New York Times
The Sneaky Ways Advertisers Are Catching Kids Who Don’t Watch Traditional TV Ads
First of all, kids’ shows now have merchandise baked in from the beginning – Paw Patrol being only one of the offenders. Then there’s YouTube, where many kids get almost all of their screen content. And YouTube’s advertising is relentless: “YouTube not only serves up advertisements, but also has unboxing videos, toy-review videos, beauty and morning-routine videos, and other seemingly homemade clips that feature young people using, talking about, and reviewing products.” – The Atlantic
A Teenager Jumped To His Death Over The Railing At Hudson Yards ‘Vessel’
The 19-year-old leapt to his death around 6 pm on Saturday, with hundreds of tourists near him. “On Sunday, dozens of visitors waited in line to enter the sculpture. No areas appeared to be restricted, and a security guard was not aware of any extra security measures but said guards were trained to look out for possible suicides.” – The New York Times
Minari Wins Grand Prize, Women Sweep Directing Awards At Sundance
Minari, which is an autobiographical feature based on Lee Isaac Chung’s childhood in rural Arkansas, won both Audience and Grand Prize. “All four of the jury directing prizes went to female filmmakers: Garrett Bradley’s Time in U.S. Documentary, Radha Blank’s Netflix acquisition The 40-Year-Old Version in U.S. Dramatic, Iryna Tsilyk’s The Earth is Blue as an Orange from Ukraine/Lithuania in World Documentary and Maïmouna Doucouré’s Cuties (another Netflix title) from France in World Dramatic.” – Los Angeles Times
The Opposite Of Beauty With Tories And Housing Development In Brexit Britain
Rowan Moore spares no words in this scathing overview of Tory-approved developments – and finds the Tory architectural guru, the late philosopher Roger Scruton, useless on this count. “Beauty, in other words, is more than skin-deep. It is ugly to cut affordable housing, to force people into their cars if they want to go out for something to eat, to put people into dank boxes, no matter what their architectural style.” (Don’t miss the line about the publisher of Asian Babes and Horny Housewives.) – The Observer (UK)
If Filipinos Want To See Four Historic Documentaries, They Have To Go To London And Pay Per Minute
Some professors and grad students are trying to change that, but right now, the situation is this: “The four films that the organizers are hoping to digitize (Fabrication Des Chapeaux De Manille, Industrie De L’abaca A L’ile De Cebu, Glimpses Of The Culion Leper Colony And Of Culion Life, and Manila Street Scene) are among the oldest examples of Philippine filmmaking but are currently only available on 35mm in London’s British Film Institute National Archive on a pay-per-minute basis. This makes viewing them somewhat difficult and expensive, particularly for those not based in the UK.” You don’t say. – Hyperallergic