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I’ve always had a keen interest in photography, and I first wanted to be a photo journalist. I did not become a photo journalist but I still like photography and I’ve samazed the French city of Trouville-Sur-Mer, a seaside resort and port on the English Channel (Calvados). New photos will be published soon. A few months ago I saw the exhibition dedicated to French artist, photographer and writer, Claude Cahun and I will write about this amazing artist later. More recently, I’ve seen the beautiful photographs of Rashid Mahdi and the captivating ones of French photograph Claude Iverné. My Sama-friends at the Sama Gazette already posted about this exhibition: ‘A few days ago, we went to see a collective exhibition in Paris: “Photographies soudanaises” (Sudanese photographs). The gallery Clémentine de la Féronnière brought together, thanks to the Elnour collective founded by Claude Iverné in 2003, photographs by Rashid Mahdi but also by Richard…⇒ READ MORE

I read again my post from last year, and honestly, I could paste it and you won’t even notice it’s from 2011… ‘Most of the people I know are celebrating, wishing everyone the best for the new year. Me too I hope everything will be better in 2011 but since we always hope the next year will be better than the previous one, it makes me feel a little bit desperate about how things will turn out… On December 31, 2011 we will all hope -again- than 2012 will be better than 2011. Sounds kind of crazy, isn’t it? It reminds me my post about how things are repeating themselves again and again in Darfur: when History is a never ending story… Anyway.’ A complete change of subject. Tech resolutions. I read some interesting articles on that topic, the first one on Mashable. The author says: ‘This year is going to be different….⇒ READ MORE

Remakes are nothing new in Hollywood but when it comes to your favorite movies, you often hope there will be ‘nothing new’, at all. In Scarface: first and second impact, I explained how some movies inspired my creativity and made me write my first short stories; Scarface is definitely one of these great movies that changed my life. In Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Nip/Tuck, House M.D… Addicted!, it was about The Twilight Zone (and The Prisoner) and the way the TV show fulled my imagination when I was a very young teenager. Blade Runner was one of the most important film of my childhood. I could feel the oppressive and stifling atmosphere, it was dark and always raining. The synthesiser-made music and most of all, the dystopian/cyberpunk world really impressed me (and maybe is the reason for my interest in #Steampunk). It’s only years later that I realized Blade Runner was heavily…⇒ READ MORE

French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier has been killed in the Syrian city of Homs; he is the first Western journalist to die since anti-regime protests erupted 10 months ago. Jacquier was an experienced war correspondent who had previously reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Congo, Israel and Kosovo and he was not working undercover, he had been authorised by the Syrian authorities to work in Homs… Jacquier was with other journalists reporting on the situation in the city, a centre of opposition to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The question is: what happened in Homs? Who did kill the journalist and injured several others? French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe condemned the attack and demanded the authorities carry out an immediate investigation. Reporters Without Borders also demanded an inquiry. Gilles Jacquier was a great reporter and I watched his work as a correspondent for the program Envoyé Spécial on France 2. The deadly attack in Homs…⇒ READ MORE

da-eYe is a great guy. Not only because ‘guy‘ rhymes with ‘da-eYe’  (last post on 2011, please be indulgent) but because he really is. He surely is facetious and waggish but he is also a great friend. He may not have a lot of friends but friendship is important to him; although I’m afraid his latest experience might change that fact… Full image on da-eYe’s website!

A quick round-up of the recent tweets I consider interesting sharing with you. Follow the links, articles are all must-read.   @NickKristof (Nicholas Kristof) Best recent books on North Korea are Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy, and also the Inpector O mysteries set inside N.K. @sudanreeves (Eric Reeves) Obstructions of humanitarian relief in Sudan should be legally recognized as crimes against humanity: http://goo.gl/Z31zJ @KenRoth (Kenneth Roth) In surprise decision, #ICC rules that crimes against humanity by #Congo rebel group FDLR have not been proved. bit.ly/vswLsx @bechamilton (bechamilton) Smart of @enoughproject to distinguish #conflictminerals legislation they support from the failed #blooddiamond regs : http://bit.ly/sGcyG1 @Jake_Bernstein (Jake Bernstein) @joestiglitz explores parallels between Great Depression and today. Both involved shifts in the “real” economy. vnty.fr/tyTBMx

C’est le titre pour le moins accrocheur d’un article que j’ai lu sur le site Le Congolais il y a quelques jours. Ce n’est pas la première fois que j’entends dire (même si quelque peu excessif et certainement pas exclusif) que le sous-développement actuel est en partie le résultat de l’omniprésence des ONG dans le pays. Une présence qui ne fait que mettre en évidence la désorganisation et la faiblesse d’un gouvernement totalement dépassé par les conséquences catastrophiques du tremblement de terre de 2010 qui a, rappelons-le, fait 300 000 morts, détruit 80% de la capitale Port-au-Prince et laissé plus d’un million d’Haïtiens sans abri… Deux ans plus tard, force est de constater que beaucoup (presque tout) reste à faire. Même si les dons ont afflué et les pays nombreux à réagir, les promesses financières n’ont pas toutes été tenues, loin de là. Et sur le terrain, une certaine exaspération règne…⇒ READ MORE

Ce n’est pas moi qui le dit mais Ekia Badou, auteure de l’article publié sur SlateAfrique. La source des femmes est sorti le 02 novembre en salle et a été salué par la critique, tant pour la réalisation et la qualité des décors (Berbères, précision utile), que par l’interprétation des actrices (Leïla Bekhti et Hafsia Herzi, sans oublier l’impressionnante actrice Algérienne Biyouna, pour ne citer qu’elles). Le synopsis est le suivant : Cela se passe de nos jours dans un petit village, quelque part entre l’Afrique du Nord et le Moyen-Orient. Les femmes vont chercher l’eau à la source, en haut de la montagne, sous un soleil de plomb, et ce depuis la nuit des temps. Leila, jeune mariée, propose aux femmes de faire la grève de l’amour : plus de câlins, plus de sexe tant que les hommes n’apportent pas l’eau au village. Ekia Badou précise que Radu Mihaileanu, le réalisateur,…⇒ READ MORE

Quand la Cinémathèque présente mes cinéastes préférés : Stanley Kubrick, Jacques Tati, Blake Edwards et Fritz Lang. Tous ont été ou bien vont l’être prochainement, mis à l’honneur par la Cinémathèque Française. L’occasion donc de revenir sur ces cinéastes emblématiques de leur époque qui tiennent une place toute particulière dans ce qui constitue mon inspiration quotidienne. Il y a un peu plus de quatre ans (diantre, que le temps passe vite…), j’ai publié (en juillet 2007 donc) : Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned The Power Of Satire. J’y exprimais dans la langue de Shakespeare tout mon intérêt de cinéphile pour #Stanley Kubrick. Docteur folamour (qui n’a rien à voir avec le Dr. Dave Bowman, on s’en doute) dans sa traduction française, est un film incontournable pour qui aime la satire, le dédoublement d’acteur avec le non moins incontournable #Peter Sellers, sans oublier l’excellent George C. Scott. Un film qui nourrit mon inspiration, même de…⇒ READ MORE