Category: media

“The movie in question is the documentary Shakedown, from filmmaker and conceptual artist Leilah Weinraub. It hails from the upper echelons of the art world, where the project enjoyed a prestige rollout in exhibits at the Whitney Museum and MoMA over the last three years.” And what’s it about? Lesbian strip clubs in L.A. – Variety

The country’s cinema has a redoubtable history (think of Kieślowski and Wajda), famous auteurs at their peak (Paweł Pawlikowski, Agnieszka Holland), and an impressive younger generation. And they’re all facing the culture war being waged by the Law & Justice Party that heads the government. As Pawlikowski puts it, “we have a common enemy, so there’s a sense of common purpose.” – The Guardian

In 1971, there were 88 member stations and a total staff of 65; now NPR’s total staff is 862, with 390 in news and 17 overseas bureaus, and the network has 1,008 member and affiliated stations.  The total weekly audience for NPR stations is 37 million; 27 million for NPR programs. Ninety-nine million consume NPR content from some platform in a month. NPR is the leading publisher of podcasts and reaches 23.7 million listeners monthly with its offerings. – Current

As the Iranian government grows more repressive of artists, director Mohammed Rasoulof was banned from leaving the country and jailed for a year. “Punishment like Rasoulof’s is an all-too common story in contemporary Iranian cinema, a thriving, internationally respected scene. Yet despite the government’s repressive measures — its approval is required for shoots and screenings — he and other directors have grown more emboldened to speak out, in formal letters, on awards stages, through social media and on film.” – The New York Times

Snapchat is trying to figure it out, but guess what? Condensing narrative into tiny, smart-phone-attention-span-sized pieces is a challenge. “There’s no time for slow builds on mobile.” – Vulture

Just keep clicking “Play next” (or don’t click the auto-play off, maybe) because the original figures about streaming were overestimated by a factor of, scientists now say, 30-60 times. However: “Demand for streaming video might shoot up this year if millions of people are forced to spend more time at home because of the coronavirus outbreak. But if they are doing this instead of driving or flying places, overall carbon emissions will be much lower.” – New Scientist

Well, probably not, but that’s about how much footage the Russian director shot of the DAU project, “a multiyear experiment in which hundreds of nonprofessional actors lived and worked in a replica of a Soviet research institute, what may be the most ambitiously immersive film set ever made, in Ukraine. People played versions of themselves, transposed to lifestyles and careers of the Soviet Union. Artists, scientists and religious leaders visited the set, becoming part of the production  and even holding lectures and workshops.” Two of the planned 13 resulting feature films premiered at the Berlinale this week. – The New York Times

When Iger, who suddenly stepped down as CEO of Disney last week, took over at the top 15 years ago, no one expected much from him – and they said so in the press. He was called “a loyal drone,” for example. But the man who said that also said, “The expectations were so low for Bob. … But no mogul in traditional entertainment has accomplished what he has.” – Los Angeles Times