Director Joe Chang Utilizes a Unique Animation Technique to Illustrate the Beauty of Birds
By Rishi Mulloth What is it about the nature of birds in nature that evokes this sense of peace and serenity? Maybe it’s the rhythmic flow of their calls, or the graceful fluttering of their wings, or maybe it is the hard-wired connection between humans and the natural world. Whatever the case is, Joe Chang’s (curated for Planet Classroom by KidsFirst!) animated short, “The Birds”, artistically displays this innate beauty within the...
Director Gwendolyn Hamilton Explores the Social Impact of Bicycles
By Rishi Mulloth “It’s often times a beautiful thing overcoming the difficulties along the way, and making your way up to the top.” This is the inspiring message from Baker Nicholaou while discussing his nonprofit enterprise Bicimaximo, a bike repair shop in Granada, Nicaragua which is the subject of the film, Second Cycles, directed by Gwendolyn Hamilton (curated for Planet Classroom by SIMA Classroom). In this film, audiences get an...
Malawi Youth Activist Speaks Out Against Marrying Girls in Their Teens
By Ishana Sen Das I Don’t Need a Husband Yet (curated for Planet Classroom by XTalks.Org) documents a presentation given by 15-year-old Rachel, who speaks passionately about the injustice of marrying young girls in their teens. As Rachel’s audience mainly consists of teenagers in her Malawi school, she addresses them directly when she asks them at what age they imagine themselves getting married. She continues to explain that many...
What Would Happen if the Meaning of Life Was Sent to Earth Too Soon?
By Ethan Thomas This is the question asked by Return to Sender, a short film centered around Moira, a clerk who works in the cosmic mailroom and mistakenly sends the meaning of life to Earth ahead of schedule. She must then choose between helping the person it was sent to or helping the universe restore order. Return to Sender offers a clever and fun story that will keep you guessing until the end. Directed by Malibu Taetz, Return to...
Bard Alumna Yixin Wang of Bard College’s US-China Music Institute Performs Eternal Sorrow of Lin’an on the Guzheng.
By Ishana Sen Das Eternal Sorrow of Lin’an brings the viewer into Yixin Wang’s home, where she performs the song, Eternal Sorrow, on the guzheng – a traditional Chinese musical instrument. Yixin Wang is an alumna from Bard College’s US-China Music Institute. The program supports musical exchange between the United States and China and promotes the study, performance and appreciation of Chinese contemporary music. The...
In Forced, Director Pep Bonet Captures the Complexities of Child Labor and Exploitation in Bangladesh.
By WIll Hite Shoes, bricks, chocolate. These are just a few examples of commodities used by consumers in Western civilizations. While these products are marketed by American and European corporations more often than not, they are manufactured by the tiny hands of children. The observational documentary, Forced, directed by Pep Bonet, covers this topic in a provocative but also open-minded approach. Sound designer José Bautista...
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