Introducing Young Talents: Niam Itani

English

Niam Itani is a storyteller. She takes pieces of life and translates them into words, narratives and tales. She gives life to what is inanimate. To chunks of abstract. To snapshots of imagination. She has no children but she is the mother of tens of souls. They live in her pages and on the screen where their lives are rendered into moving images.

Because Niam Itani is a filmmaker.

Born in Lebanon where she lives and works as an independent screenwriter and filmmaker, she graduated from the Lebanese American University with a Bachelor Degree in Communication Arts and a Master's in Education. She then completed her Graduate Screenwriting Program at Hollins University in Virginia, USA before returning home to her alma mater where she currently teaches screenwriting.

"I worked for five years at Al Jazeera Channel in Doha, to get some experience and save money for my graduate tuition fees. When I returned from "Exile" (ghirbeh) people thought I had come back with a fortune, when in fact I was paying my savings for my Screenwriting MFA, so I returned with a degree instead. It was my dream to study screenwriting since I finished my undergrad degree in 2000, but for older relatives and acquaintances in Lebanon, the only good thing that come out of "ghirbeh" should be cashable at the bank. I think for them I might still be a failure". (smile) 


Some might disagree. In fact, Niam has been successfully featured in many film festivals worldwide and her latest short, Super.Full. has been selected out of more than 15,000 films from 160 countries, to compete in Your Film Festival, an online film festival organized by YouTube and Google Inc., in partnership with Sir Ridley Scott and the actor Michael Fassbender. Super.Full. is the only film from Lebanon and one of two Arab films in the competition.

Niam Itani

What got you interested in filmmaking? 
It was simply my desire to do something different than others when it was time to choose a major at university. I knew what I didn't want so I chose Communication Arts with an emphasis on Radio, TV and Film. And I fell in love with filmmaking.

Who is your favorite filmmaker?
Every passionate filmmaker is my favorite filmmaker. The first was Andrei Tarkovsky and countless others followed.

How would you describe your film education? 
My undergraduate and graduate film education were both so overloaded with film and theater work and so much fun, mainly because of the overnights that helped create lifelong friendships!

Is there anyone you call a mentor? 
Every teacher in their own realm were mentors. There isn't enough space to mention them all. I have a special place in my heart for my theater teacher Lina Abyad because she transcended the traditional student-teacher relationship and gave me advice on lots of issues that were life changing, with or without being aware of it!

What advice do you have for students interested in attending the same school? 
Anybody who wants to go to film school needs lots of passion, lots of courage and craziness and lots of discipline. I know that the last two are very difficult to balance, but that is my advice to every film student who wants to succeed.

What sort of internships and jobs have you had and what advice would you give to students interested in gaining the same types of opportunities?
I consider every free gig I worked on since I was a student and until now an internship. A special internship was the one I got at Aljazeera because it taught me alot and was a platform to work along many experienced and veteran journalists and filmmakers. My advice for students looking for opportunities is to say "YES" whenever they have time, and make every opportunity a learning experience. Get to know as many people in this industry as you can.

Super.Full Poster

Tell us about your experience at festivals.
The first time one of my films competed in a festival was in 2005. A short documentary I made was chosen for Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival in Doha, Qatar. I was 24 and for someone who hadn't traveled much it was a thrilling experience. Later my student film in Hollins won an award in a student film competition in Canada. Super.Full. is the best festival runner so far. It has been selected in 14 film festivals so far and Your Film Festival is the 15th one. Festivals are an excellent way to get your work and yourself out there. They introduce you to new countries and new cultures and for an introvert like me, they put me face to face with strangers. Although I always beg a friend to meet me wherever I fly!

What areas of filmmaking interest you the most? 
Screenwriting is what interests me most. I am a loner. I love the idea of plugging my earphones and pouring my heart out on the page. I enjoy the acts of creating and manipulating characters, and above all, I love telling stories.

You have worked in Theater. How does it differ from Film and where do you feel most "yourself"?
Theater and film are spiritually very fulfilling for me. Theater carries much more thrill, being live and raw. For now I see myself writing for films, though I'd love to try playwriting in the future.

You also have worked in TV. What are some of the main differences between cinema and television? Are there specificities to the Arab world in that regard?
I can't compare Cinema to TV. Film is Art. TV can be art, but it is business. In the Arab world, unfortunately, most TV stations are propaganda outlets. I always advise my students to stop watching TV when they are working on films.

What do you consider the elements of a good film to be? Name a film you would regard as an example. 
A good script, first and foremost. Of course a harmonious production team is always needed to translate the writer's and/or director's vision to the screen. There are lots of good films out there. American Beauty and Little Miss Sunshine are two films that I refer to often in my film classes. I am also a huge fan of the Coen Brothers' films.

You teach screenwriting, name the one film you consider to showcase excellence in screenwriting.
I always change the examples I use in my classrooms, mostly to challenge myself and study more screenplays every year. This year I used a Russian film to show good screenwriting: The Return. The year before I used American Beauty. A Separation was an excellent screenplay for this year, and I thought it deserved the Academy Award for Best Screenplay par excellence.

What sort of things do you study when watching a film?
Sometimes I just let go and don't consider anything. But most of the time I can't help but watch for plot points, act breaks, character identifying lines, etc. It becomes intuitive.

Who are your favorite screen actors and why do you admire their work? 
I don't have an all time favorite screen actor, but I love certain actors in certain roles. There are some that earned immortal acclaim like Al Pacino in Michael Corleone, or Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver, Jack Nicholson in Chinatown and many others. I mostly admire actors work when I feel that they took a challenging role, not one that "fits" who they are. Brad Pitt in Burn After Reading is an example that jumps to mind.

What are your best qualities as a filmmaker? 
I have a thing for observing life and people around me and a good eye for detail.

Your worst? 
I try to please everyone.

What inspires your work?
Daily life, for the most part, is where I get my inspiration.

What is the most inspired project you have done? 
My most inspired project is a screenplay I wrote really fast last year. It is my heart's favorite because it is a comedy, it takes place in Beirut, and its protagonist is a "Itani". I am waiting for my screenwriting experience to increase in order to polish the script well. But it is my favorite screenplay so far.

Super.Full.

Tell us about Super.Full. 
Super.Full. slowly developed over the years, between 2007 and 2010. I come from a middle class family and when I saw the world I was exposed to so much poverty and so much wealth, the differences made me sick -literally. But I noticed that the poor were always more content. That was my motive to make the film. The filmmaking process was facilitated with lots of help from my friends and from MAISHA (the Mira Nair association) and from the Doha Film Institute because I was a Qatari resident at the time. DFI assisted us with the equipment and the facilities and key production people, namely a professional DOP and Sound Recordist, and the rest was personal investment. There were lots of production challenges really but none of them was major. I will be publishing "Super.Full. stories" on my blog which everyone is welcome to read and learn from, hopefully. Distribution wise, websites and distribution arms contacted me after festival screenings to show the film for a fee but I refused. I made this film because I want it to be seen and I was planning to make it available online for free, whether through Your Film Festival or simply Vimeo and YouTube.

Are you working on anything new?
I am working on my first feature film, which I hope to film in September 2013. It is a drama intended for theatrical release and festivals alike. We still didn't send out the rewritten script to anybody yet but we will be submitting it to major production grants and funds later this summer and next fall. I am looking for funding but I am a firm believer that with tighter financial power, more hearts go into production. And a production with more heart is usually better on screen than one with more cash. 

How would you describe the film industry in the Arab world and in Lebanon in particular? 
I love that there were many Lebanese films produced last year and this year. There is no industry yet, per se, in the Arab world. But that doesn't mean we cannot make good films. Nadine Labaki made two films that won international acclaim and she is paving the road for other Lebanese and Arab filmmakers. For the mere fact that she gives us hope, I think we have to salute her efforts.

What advice do you have for anyone interested in trying to succeed in our part of the world?
The journey is long, so don't let go. Be in it to win it. Be bold, be free, be truthful.

Super.Full.

If you hadn't been a filmmaker, what profession would you have chosen?
Anything that has to do with writing.

Outside of films, what are your hobbies? 
Tennis, soccer (football), reading, photography, music, life!

If you were stranded on a desert island with only one item, what would it be? 
My eyeglasses, please!

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 
Hopefully writing screenplays for other directors. I have lots of stories to tell and I enjoy writing more than directing. I hope some people would want to put those stories on the big screen.

Where can readers view your films and learn more about you? 
My website for a professional version or my blogs (here and here) for the human version. They can also follow me on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, I am all over the place! (smile)

In one word, if you were a

Film? The English Patient 

Soundtrack? Babel

Book or literary piece? Annabel Lee - Edgar Allen Poe

Color? Navy Blue

Shape? Circle

Famous character (real or fictional)? The Talented Mr. Ripley!

Super.Full.

Make sure you watch Super.Full. here and vote. 

This one tiny click of yours can make a huge change as Your Film Festival is now inviting everyone to take part in the voting process in order to select the films that will be screened at the Venice Film Festival. You can vote once a day, every day, until July 13th so make sure you try to pass by daily so Niam can get a shot at making a film with Ridley Scott's production company! 

How awesome would that be, right?

     

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D like Dubai

English

50% of my time on the phone is spent spelling!

I find myself singing the phonetic alphabet at almost every call:

  D like Dubai

       I like India

C like Charlie

         K like Kangaroo

    E like Echo

  N like November

      S like Sugar

Yeah, I know, I'm making some of them up but that's really not why I'm writing this post. Today a couple of things happened that prompted me to pour my heart out on Facebook:

I have absolutely no problem if people can't speak Arabic or English in Dubai. I take issue with companies that put them on the phone with customers! Why torture both your clients and your hardest working employees? I say hardest because these people are drivers and delivery men. Let them DRIVE and DELIVER! It's hard enough in this weather! Have an admin, someone who can speak both English AND Arabic make the calls!
Someone just called to take down my address and deliver a package. Try spelling Dickens Circus over the phone when there's no common language to communicate!
(Oh! AND an Arab who's not proficient in English should be able to get services in Arabic in an Arab country!)
Source

My building's named after Charles Dickens, and as beautiful as that may be, every time I have to verbally give my address to someone, it never fails: no one understands a word! And don't think that mentioning "Dickens, as in Charles Dickens, you know, the author" would make any difference.

Well, it probably doesn't help that I live in Motor City and that for some unrelated reason, buildings and streets are named after renowned writers. Ferrari Street would have been easier to explain: "Yes, like the car, Ferrari; I live in Motor City! Duh!".

Instead we're stuck with literature!

In this day and age, it would have been really more practical to name the streets Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. But no, the creative people at Union Properties preferred authors.

And why make it easy when you can make it even harder: the buildings are either clustered in "Circuses" when they form a complete circle, or "Crescents" when they form half a circle.

That makes me a resident of Dickens Circus.
Seriously.

I'm only kidding about the names of our buildings; I do like them.
Our community is really beautiful and I love living here.

But obviously it would have been easier to live on Shakespeare Circus. Everyone knows Shakespeare (or at least his name) and somehow I'm sure I could have convinced the whole world that in my building, all residents are dedicated to putting Shakespeare's plays on stage, in a Circus tent, because we can't afford a real theater.

My flat-mate Charlie (Dick for close friends) was so right when he wrote:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"

The best is at Motor City.

The worst is telling people how to get to The Best without getting lost! It's a little like Atlantis; the island, not the hotel. Everyone knows it's there, but no one is really sure how to reach it.

OK, it's not that bad and I only kid for the purpose of entertaining my wonderful, loyal, one and only reader. Somehow I know you are out there. I know you read my posts. I know you wait for new ones. And I am a little scared you may start stalking me one day. But not too scared. Just the right amount that Hollywood celebrities feel on a daily basis when they pass by Starbucks for their morning caffeine shot.

Dear Future Stalker, kindly disregard the following paragraph. Thank you

And if you plan on moving to Motor City but are too worried you'll be stranded like Tom Hanks and Wilson, don't worry, you can always choose to live in Bennett House, Norton Court, Widcombe House, Sherlock House, Fox Hill or the Terrace Apartments. Somehow they're easier to understand than "Circus".

Oh, and let me reassure you dear reader, yes, I did receive my package this morning. Thank you for asking. 

But seriously, I wasn't kidding about the pre-delivery call. It's really frustrating when all the while someone who's proficient in English could have taken all the details and given clear directions to the driver.

I personally talk London very best and eventually, I managed to agree on the basics with that delivery man (who was so nice by the way). But what if my mom had gotten that call? Yes, she does pass by Dubai from time to time. Or any other non-English speaking poor soul? 

Dubai is such a cosmopolitan hub that sometimes you forget you live in an Arab country. But it is exactly that: an Arab country.  

Once hubby was at a main Supermarket chain in one of Dubai's largest shopping malls and he saw an elderly Emirati man, probably in his 70's, fighting with a cashier from the Philippines. She couldn't understand a word he was saying and since he wasn't proficient in English, he couldn't understand what she was saying either.

He was appalled that in his own country, he could not find one person able to provide him with answers in his mother tongue.

He was right.

I am not saying that we should get rid of all the non-Arabic speakers in town, far from it!

But at least, in common places where customer service is essential (if not the only thing staff does) and customer means all and any human being, employees should be able to speak primarily the country's native tongue, in addition to English to cater to non-Arab customers who obviously are a large market in Dubai.

A humble opinion.

(In case you're curious, here's the other incident I reported on Facebook)

I have to wonder...

English ✮ Français

WHY, OH WHY?

As I was Googling the world "Hello" for a cute image; I get this... This... Well I don't really know what that is. But I can't help but wonder why.... 

Hello Kitty was disturbing enough to me before. 

But now, this gives a whole new dimension to the word "disturbing".

MAIS POURQUOI, BON SANG?

Alors que je Googlais le mot "Hello" à la recherche d'une petite image mimi, je tombe sur ce... Ce... Je sais pas trop ce que c'est, mais je ne peux pas m’empêcher de me demander "pourquoi?"

Déjà que Hello Kitty me traumatisait avant.

Le moins qu'on puisse dire c'est que je viens de découvrir une toute nouvelle dimension au mot "traumatisant".

Source & Recherche Google

The God Complex

English

The God Complex... If you Googled the term, the first definition you'd get would probably be Wikipedia's, which redirects you to Narcissistic Personality Disorder; appropriate name considering the use of "disorder" in there. In lame terms, it means you're so full of yourself you think you could be God, or at the very least his vice-president (OK, let's not turn to blasphemy just to make a point).

We all know that ironically, doctors and surgeons in particular suffer from this disease, as one of my favorite shows states it so well:

Turk: Oh, come on, Carla, give me one good reason why you won't go out with me.

Carla: Well, you're a surgeon. So, you've got the god-complex, the cockiness, the whole "married to the job" thing. You're cute, but you're very, very aware of it. You have no idea what I'm like, so all of your feelings for me are coming from down there [points at his crotch].But most of all, I'm looking for the real thing; and you're nothing but a little boy who's not used to being told "no." So there's a bunch of reasons. Pick your favorite.

J.D.: I'd go with the "god-complex"...but it's hard to choose, you know, they're all so good.

Sure, to have the guts to cut someone open and believe you can put them back together without a glitch, you'd need fairly high self-confidence; so we can safely assume a doctor suffering from GC is probably a much better/safer option than a modest MD.

But what about geeks with GC syndrome?

What's up with geeks nowadays anyway?
They think they're so smart.
They think they own the virtual world and the real one by extension.
They think they own us for God's sake! (boy have I been using God's name a lot!!)

I should know.
Two of them live in the same house with me.
One of them sleeps in the same bed with me.

(OK, just to clarify because the above may sound weird and God knows what else to the dirty minds: the first geek is my brother and he lives with me and my husband who is none other than the proud second geek I mentioned. It is also crucial everyone understands the only nerd to share my bed is indeed my hubby...)

And every time I make the mistake to comment on one of their amazingly well thought and well said geeky dorky nerdy statements with an "Oh my God", both of them reply "Yes?"

Damn geeks!


OK fine. Steve Jobs can probably afford a superiority complex or two. So can Bill Gates although frankly, considering how fast Windows crashes, one would be more inclined to go find a big, deep hole somewhere in the middle of nowhere and just hide in it for the rest of eternity!

But let's not be bitter bitches; yes these people are self-made geniuses who managed to change the world as our parents knew it. Technological developments move so fast these days, the sweet bipping of a modem searching for a connection is now (Thank God! -- here I go calling your name again) an obsolete memory most if not all young people have never even heard of! (and by young I mean the under 30 cool peeps which I no longer belong to - deep-deep-extremely-deep-sigh)

So these geeks now, they just go around checking us out, searching our personal stuff, looking for something interesting to please their geeky eyes/ears/keyboards. They dissect us. They judge us. They lecture us. And yes, most of the times, they laugh at us!

So why do we put up with all that?

Let's face it:
What would our lives be without Facebook? or Google for that matter?! Oh Lord! A Googleless life! I don't even want to think about such a disastrous calamity!

(... Or we would call "friends" people we've actually met in person and actually like... And we would probably still be using these amazing huge encyclopedias and dictionaries I loved so much when I was a kid... But now that we've had a taste of the sin that is the Internet, we can never go back to the dark ages of typewriters -- and now those cute youngsters I mentioned before will be lost at the word "typewriter" wondering if that is some kind of new software used to develop fonts...)

Confession Time:
So let's admit it once and for all and face reality as it is, I do love the little buggers... I mean geeks... I married one, that's how much I love them.

And coming from an arts background, I've got to say that when it comes to GC, artists score far above anyone else on Narcissus' scale; so all things considered, I think I did good.

(wink at all geeks and artists out there -- we're just having fun)

Thank God (oh, here you are again!) nobody I know actually reads this or I would be friendless by now (or not, after all I'd still have my 500+ Facebook buddies) ;-)

. S H A R E . T H I S . P ✮ S T .

Astérix et Obélix ont 50 ans !

Français

Merci Google.fr :-)

"Astérix et Obélix ont 50 ans !
©2009 Goscinny - Uderzo"

Joyeux Anniversaire les gaulois!
ils sont fous (de vous) ces lecteurs!

50 «bougix» pour Astérix et Obélix (Le Figaro)
"Le 29 octobre 1959 exactement, naissaient dans le premier numéro du journal Pilote, Astérix et Obélix."

Albert Uderzo : «Comme j'aimerais avoir 50 ans !» (Le Figaro)

Cinq dessinateurs s’amusent à croquer Astérix et Obélix (Le Figaro)

. S H A R E . T H I S . P ✮ S T .

Pilobolus Dance Theater

English ✮ Français

Pilobolus
Uploaded by laurkal. - Arts and animation videos.

Pilobolus Dance Theater links:

Official site
Wikipedia
MySpace
Google Videos Search Results

. S H A R E . T H I S . P ✮ S T .

Puzzling...

English

A friend shared an article on Facebook the other day about the latest nerdy toy hitting stores this year: The Rubik's 360

Yes, I said Rubik.

Sounds familiar? Of course it does! It's our childhood's most popular tool of torture: The Rubik's Cube! My God, how I hated this toy!! So damn frustrating! Never solved it!

Apparently, 30 years later, the same inventor decides it is time to torture a new generation of innocent kids who will be undoubtedly receiving the Rubik's 360 this Christmas for two reasons:

1. REVENGE! Their parents were tortured with the cube, it's now time for them to hit back and be on the other end; i.e. inflicting the pain! :-P

2. IMMORTALITY! In Lebanon we have a proverb that says "One who has children never dies"; which means that if you have kids, they'll take after you, physically but also in their mannerism and attitude (and in our culture the family name is very important, so having a boy means allowing your name to carry on to the next generation) and so, the memory of you is kept alive through your children; i.e. you're immortal :-P All this seems unrelated to our topic here, but in fact, it is not because the whole point is to explain to you that no matter how hard you fight it, ultimately you will do like your parents did. And what did your parents do? They decided that getting you a Rubik's Cube would mean PEACE. Occupy that child for as long as possible! Well now it's your turn to suffer children's nagging... But also your turn to occupy them with their own Rubik! Ah, isn't life beautiful? Doesn't this entire existence seem so much fairer now?

Your kids' torture tool is not a cube, it's a bubble...
Different shape, same anguish! :-)

Rubik's cube inventor unveils testing 360 puzzle

Rubik's 360 will hit UK stores next week and promises to be just as challenging as its predecessor

Haroon Siddique
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 7 July 2009 12.24 BST

Almost 30 years after the Rubik's cube led many to a fit of pique and sleepless nights, its inventor is back with a new puzzle that promises to prove just as testing.

The Rubik's 360 will be launched in the UK next week and Erno Rubik hopes it can replicate the success of the cube, which has sold more than 350m units since its 1980 launch and remains the world's fastest-selling toy.

The puzzle is based on similar principles to the cube, with the objective being to steer six coloured balls inside a sphere into their respective home slots.

"I feel that the Rubik's 360 is one of the most innovative and exciting puzzles we've developed since the cube – adopting elements of my original design, challenging the solver to use skill, dexterity and logic," said the notoriously reclusive Rubik.

David Hedley Jones, senior vice-president of the Rubik's brand, said that, like the fiendishly difficult but addictive cube, the 360 looks like it should be quite easy. "But it is incredibly complicated. There are some really cunning tricks to it," he said.

It is the 64-year-old Hungarian inventor's first new puzzle for almost 20 years and, according to Rubik's, the level of pre-orders has already left stocks low.

It will be officially launched at Hamleys on 15 July and the London toy store said the 360, priced at £18, was the most popular item on its website, with thousands of inquiries received.

The Rubik's cube was invented in 1974 and its popularity exploded when it was exported from Hungary in 1980. The name entered the Oxford English Dictionary after just two years and the toy is a permanent exhibit in New York's Museum of Modern Art. It still has a cult following and 15m were sold last year.

While Rubik's is keen for the 360 to follow in the footsteps of the cube in terms of sales – it is already being touted as a Christmas bestseller – the new puzzle has fallen foul of one of the problems that afflicted its predecessor: fakes. Rubik's has warned customers to beware of copies after a spate of imitations appeared on eBay.

Of course, this reminded me that if a new puzzle is coming out soon, I should at least try and solve the original one right?

But unlike in the old days, we now have access to a wealth of information... On the net! This time, I skipped Google and directly hit YouTube with my fatidic question:

How to solve a Rubik's Cube?

Apparently many people have already taken care of that matter and I found many videos willing to answer my question. Didn't have the patience to check them all because, well the first one (which is made of two parts) completely broke me! It was supposed to be simple damn it! Well I am still as clueless about Rubik as I was before! But I'm sure you guys are smarter than me, so go ahead, check it out and enjoy! As for me, my only solution is this.

Now... Waiting for the 360 "how to" guide on YouTube...

. S H A R E . T H I S . P ✮ S T .

June 26: International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (and Farrah & MJ of course)

English

I am aware that last night the news of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson passing away turned the world upside down.

But I would really like to keep on posting the following as the very first piece of information on this post today:

JUNE 26 :

International Day in Support of
Victims of Torture

That being said, I don't deny the huge impact of Farrah and MJ's deaths on people last night.

CNN completely changed its home page!
Twitter almost crashed last night. So did Google.
It's news, I get it.

The news of the favorite Angel who fought cancer for quite some time came as a sad expectation, but MJ's plans for a series of 50 comeback concerts made it a little bit more difficult for audiences (and media) to cope with his death.

In the midst of all the fans mourning their idol and others who wouldn't usually care about the King of Pop still finding a sudden affection for the fallen star, some (a few maybe) contemplated the global reaction and had another opinion on the subject. Whether you liked him or not, everyone had something to say about MJ's death, unsurprisingly of course. Someone on Facebook even compared yesterday's events to Lady Di and Mother Theresa dying on the same day. Not to sound like a bitch, and it's kind of disgusting to badmouth the dead, but come on, the comparison is a bit far fetched. What Mother Theresa and even Lady Di gave to the world in terms of humanitarian efforts does not compare. Anyway, we all make mistakes and if there is a God waiting for us in the afterlife, may he have mercy on us all and our souls rest in peace.

. S H A R E . T H I S . P ✮ S T .

La nature humaine

English ✮ Français

En un mot: Effrayante

Et je me demande pourquoi en dépit de tout mon pessimisme, c'est à chaque fois avec de gros yeux que je découvre de nouvelles histoires, plus répugnantes les unes que les autres! Ma naïveté m'étonne moi-même.

Il y a de çà seulement deux semaines à peu près, je suis tombée sur un très bon (comme d'habitude) billet par Mam'zelle Scarlett: Quand internet se met à harceler. L'auteur commence par expliquer le background de l'article "Une gamine américaine qui s’est suicidée après avoir été insultée, vannée sur son physique, bref harcelée sur internet. Elle a vécu cela comme une véritable humiliation puisque ça a fait le tour de son collège. [...] Sans que ce soit sans commune mesure, je me demande parfois si les blogs ne relaient pas certains jugements sur d’autres blogueurs qui pourraient s’apparenter à une forme de lapidation virtuelle."

Pourquoi est-ce que je me rappelle ce billet maintenant?

Ce matin je suis passée par Twitter et j'y ai trouvé un lien qui m'a intriguée: Google in court in Italy.

Au début, j'ai cru que ça devait être encore un truc financier, genre Louis Vuitton qui porte plainte contre Google parceque quand on recherche le mot "Vuitton" on se retrouve avec des liens conduisant à des sites de contrefaçon.

Mais non, cette fois, comme l'explique Steve Vaile, il s'agit d'une affaire de protection de la vie privée. Et de bizutage.

Cette fois, l'humiliation s'est produite non seulement dans le monde virtuel, mais aussi dans le monde réel. Une bande de crétins ont trouvé hilarant de torturer un garçon trisomique! Mais ça ne s'arrête pas là bien entendu. Parcequ'ils sont bien fiers de leur idées géniales, ils filment la séance de bizutage... Non, non, c'est pas finit... Et ils postent la vidéo sur Google. Apparemment, une plainte a été déposée auprès des administrateurs qui ont immédiatement retiré la vidéo en moins de 24 heures. Google se retrouve néanmoins devant la justice.

Je ne vais pas débattre ce sujet mais si vous êtes intéressés, les réponses que j'ai postée sur les deux articles sont ici-bas, en bleu.

Ce que je trouve à la fois triste et inquiétant c'est qu'à chaque fois que l'humanité progresse et de nouvelles découvertes semblent nous mener vers une vie de meilleure qualité, ces mêmes découvertes sont immédiatement transformées en outils de menace.

Aujourd'hui, il est complètement inconcevable de s'imaginer notre vie sans Internet. Les bénéfices sont incontestables.

Mais c'est déjà avec beaucoup de difficultés que la justice, les libertés, les lois et les droits les plus fondamentaux sont protégés, mis en œuvre et accomplis. Alors ajoutons à tout ce petit monde réel, un petit monde virtuel tout aussi vaste, si ce n'est plus. Notre génération ,et probablement celles à venir, a du pain sur la planche.

@Mam'zelle Scarlett

J’avais vu une émission il y a pas longtemps sur le bizutage virtuel. J’ai été choquée par ce que ces adolescents ont fait et par les arguments qu’ils tiennent pour se justifier! Avant les plus faibles craignaient les cours de récré, mais une fois chez eux, ils étaient en sécurité. Maintenant, il n’y a même plus où se cacher!

J’ai été témoin de quelque chose de similaire sur Facebook récemment. Une copine à moi, militante politique en toute transparence et qui a investit tous ses efforts, Facebook inclus, lors de nos dernières élections (hier) est membre d’un certain parti politique. Ses “status” sur Facebook se sont transformés en campagnes électorales et bon, en général tous ses “amis virtuels” savent d’où elle vient et ce qu’elle pense. Et après tout, elle est sur son propre site et elle est libre d’y écrire ce qu’elle veut. Jusqu’au jour où, grand sacrilège, elle écrit qu’elle n’est pas d’accord avec le leader de son parti en ce qui concerne une décision qu’il a prise (rien de grave, elle compte toujours voter pour lui, mais elle a eu le malheur de donner son avis sur un truc banal) et là, tous ces soit-disant “amis” se sont jetés sur elle comme un lion sur une antilope. Moche la comparaison? Et bein la réalité était pire. Elle a été traitée de traitresse et de je ne sais quelles autres conneries, des étalages d’insultes sur son propre profil! Et le pire c’est qu’elle comptait toujours voter pour le même parti (et c’est ce qu’elle a fait d’ailleurs)!

Moi aussi il m’arrivent de lire des choses qui ne me plaisent pas, mais ma devise c’est: si tu n’as rien de bien ou de neutre (au minimum) à dire, tais-toi quand tu n’es pas chez toi.

Après tout, commenter c’est facultatif.

(c’est aussi un privilège que l’auteur te donne, alors, un peu de respect en retour ne tue personne)

En d’autres termes, oui, donne tes idées honnêtement sur ton site/profil/etc. mais quand tu es chez les autres, respecte-les comme tu voudrais qu’ils te respectent.

Moi aussi parfois je lis des choses qui me donnent envie de gueuler des sauvageries! On a tous des réactions un peu extrêmes parfois face à certains propos. C’est humain. Il faut juste savoir se retenir. C’est aussi et surtout ça être humain.

Ça ne sert à rien d’aller salir les sites des autres avec de la pure méchanceté. Tu n’aimes pas ce que tu lis, clique ailleurs.

Et si tu cherches juste à te battre, tu peux toujours aller sur un forum et débattre autant que tu veux. Il y a des plateformes juste pour ça. Mais sur les sites privés, respecte les gens que tu visitent.

@Steve Vaile

Privacy issues are very important, especially nowadays with all the new means available to all, allowing virtually anyone to break boundaries of decency.

However, I think that the problem here is not privacy.

It is bullying.

Did the fact that potentially millions saw the bullying make this whole experience more harmful? (in this case the video was removed almost immediately assuming millions viewed it could be far fetched, although popular videos spread like the flu! Anyway)...

Does that mean if the bullying was not recorded and shared on Google, it would have been less harmful?

I don't think so. Bullying is as damaging even if it's only known to the bully and the victim.

Public humiliation may add insult to injury, yes, but the real problem, the real crime is the bullying. Whether it is done face to face or online is irrelevant. Just like schools cannot always keep an eye on what's happening in their hallways, Google cannot keep track of every video (or other) posted. Just like in schools, when there's a complaint, actions are taken. And in this case Google acted promptly. Actually they should be thanking Google for revealing the bullies.

Technologies are nothing but carriers. It's people who make the crimes. Nobody would think of suing a knife manufacturer just because someone would have used their product to kill. I've been reading a lot about teenagers bullied on blogs and social networks, and even about one girl who committed suicide after being humiliated online. Apparently she received a large number of insults on her own blog and was so hurt she couldn't take all the cruelty.

Privacy regulations are stated very clearly on all social media sites. When these rules are broken, measures are taken. This is justice.

(I only wish that the bullies being punished would serve as a lesson and would actually deter others from recording and posting such videos, but it would be too good to be true, right? One can only hope that administrators of such sites act promptly and severely... As for hoping that all people exercise some sort of decency - and compassion - and refrain from bullying altogether, well that would be utopia...)

. S H A R E . T H I S . P ✮ S T .

Une touche de déco

Je suis une fanatique de Boston Legal, et de toutes les séries télévisées signées David E. Kelley d'ailleurs. Mais j'aime particulièrement les personnages de Boston Legal qui sont un mariage parfait entre le sérieux de The Practice et la folie totale d'Ally McBeal. L'amour (virtuel) de ma vie (télévisée), le fantasme de ma vie (imaginaire) c'est Alan Shore, l'avocat irrésistible qu'interprète à la perfection le talentueux James Spader.

À la fin de chaque épisode, Alan Shore et Denny Crane (interprété par le légendaire William Shatner) se retrouvent sur le balcon de leur bureau, assis sur deux canapés blanc et philosophent sur tout en fumant leur cigares.

Et bien Hadhoud et moi on recherchent ces canapés depuis la nuit des temps. Ou plutôt, on recherchait. Parceque je viens de les trouver aujourd'hui (merci Google!)

Et il s'avère que ce sont des chaises, et non pas des canapés, faites totalement en plastique! Le génie derrière ces œuvres c'est Philippe Starck, un designer français reconnu mondialement pour son art et ses décorations d'intérieur. Maintenant tout s'explique, monsieur Starck est un verseau ;-)

Nos chaises, ce sont les Bubble Club Armchairs (même le nom est génial):

Bonne nouvelle, les chaises sont disponibles à Dubai.

Mais elles sont tellement chères! Partout d'ailleurs, pas seulement ici... Deux chaises coûtent plus de mille dollars américains! C'est un peu beaucoup pour des chaises qu'on compte laisser sur le balcon toute l'année dans la poussière désertique de Dubai... :-(

In English?
Sure, why not?

I'm an addict for Boston Legal, and all of David E. Kelley's work for that matter. But I particularly adore Boston Legal's characters, they seem to be the perfect blend between the seriousness of The Practice and the total madness of Ally McBeal. The (virtual) love of my (televised) life; the fantasy of my (imaginary) life is Alan Shore, the irresistible lawyer played to perfection by the talented James Spader.

At the end of each episode, Alan Shore and Denny Crane (played by the legendary William Shatner) meet on their office balcony, sit on their white couches and philosophize about the world while smoking their cigars.

Well Hadhoud and I have been looking for those couches for ages! Or should I say HAD been looking. Because I just found them today (thank you Google!)

I've discovered that they are actually armchairs and not couches and that they're made entirely of plastic! The genius mind behind these wonders is Philippe Starck, a French designer recognized worldwide for his art. No wonder he's so amazing, he's an Aquarius ;-)

Our chairs are the Bubble Club Armchairs (even the name is great):

Good news, they are available in Dubai.

But they are so damn expensive! Everywhere, not only here... Two couches would cost us over a thousand US dollars! That's a bit much for chairs we'll be keeping on our balcony in sandy Dubai... :-(

. S H A R E . T H I S . P ✮ S T .