[imc-auckland-video] reviews and peace awards

[Chloe Heffernan (FOA POL)]

My thoughts on these two things?

Well, you know, our doco probably wasn't the most 'moving' piece of doco
made last year - it was more an educational piece. No great cinematic
milestone.

I also suspect the media peace awards have always been more into worthy (I
don't deny) identity politics stuff about refugees and people with
disabilities than critical political economy approaches that 'advocate
deeper structural change' - can't say I'm that surprised. 

I reckon the peace foundation - well meaning though it may be and grateful
as I may be for the $200 donation it gave to Plan B - hasn't quite
intellectually resolved the rather large philosophical conflict between
wanting 'peace and conflict resolution' (no land mines, being kind to
immigrants, not discriminating against deaf people, stories about
aforementioned on front page of Herald and in Metro etc) and not challenging
the workings of capitalism (to put it crudely). 

Their's is a world in which journalists will miraculously transform
themselves into avid promoters of tolerance and understanding if only they
think of the prestige and warm fuzzies surrounding the awarding of a
wonderfully authentic indigenous looking paua shell statuette at the
Maidment - not to mention the honour of its presentation by well known
crusading journalists such John Campbell and Carol Hirschfeld or Nicola
Legat - editor of Metro magazine (that purveyor of ready-for-consumption
disdain for anyone who doesn't earn $80,000 per year or live within a 2 km
radius of ponsoby road). How could any concerns for profit override such a
noble motivation as a media peace award?


Or is this just sour grapes? ;-)

 
As for the review of Whose News? - well I kind of agree with Janet Bedggood
about the 'once over lightly' nature of the doco. But we really couldn't do
much more given the limitations of time (screen time and production time),
our own lack of experience and resources. That kind of answer will never
satisfy reviewers though. At least we were considered worthy of a review!

Chloe








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