Global Voices Online

LJ user burtin posts this comment (RUS) about Avatar: “Interesting that people cry [as they watch] Avatar - while reports from Chechnya and Ingushetia leave them totally indifferent. Even though archetypally the same is happening there - only the people are real, not [computer-generated]. […] If this were happening in the Soviet times, the film would've been banned because it resembles reality. And now this isn't necessary - reality is of no interest whatsoever. […]”

Patrizia Venturino filmed and uploaded the video of the Maierato landslide where a whole hill slid down the slope in the province of Vibo Valentia in Calabria. The clear video shows as the citizens run away from the river of rocks, dirt and trees amid the shouts of the police and those at the scene.

The citizen video recording the death of Neda, an Iranian woman during the presidential election protests in Iran has won the George Polk Award in Journalism. This amateur and anonymous video spread throughout the world and became a symbol of the Iranian Resistance and citizen journalism.

Soliloquies Of An Opinionated Mind reviews Kavi, a 19 minute fictional short film (in Hindi), which was recently nominated in the best live action short film category at the 2010 Academy Awards. “Will Kavi be the next Slumdog Millionaire?” - asks the blogger.

Dilip D'Souza at Death Ends Fun criticizes right-wing Shiv Shena's protests against the Bollywood film “My Name Is Khan”.

A film showing the Iranian opposition in the streets of Isfahan on the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. Here are some photos of pro government demonstrations in country.

Signifyin' Guyana is inspired by “Guyanese filmmaker Clairmont Chung's W.A.R. Stories, a documentary on the life, activism, and death of Dr. Walter Rodney.”

“I find it baffling that, decades later, we have not figured out this whole water issue as yet. Water is, after all, essential for life. And while not strictly speaking relevant, it is certainly ironic that we also live on an island”: Tattoo suggests that “they should make a film noir” about Trinidad and Tobago's Water and Sewerage Authority.

The blogs Sophimanía [es] and Habla Sonia Luz [es] are extremely proud that for the first time in history, a Peruvian film has been nominated for an Oscar for the Best Foreign Film, when La Teta Asustada received the honor.