Showing posts with label documentary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label documentary. Show all posts

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Living Without Money at Sinema Old School


The title of this documentary caught my eyes which I received an e-mail from Sinema.sg introducing this documentary. Living without MONEY. How can someone live without any money? How would she settle her daily necessities? Did she went to become a farmer and grows her own vegetable and rares animals for food? I have all sorts of questions in my mind, so there I am at Old School Sinema ready to find out the answers.


Didn't made any reservations online and was told that the show was fully booked. Luckily, they went in and found someone who reserved the tickets but couldn't turn up so we got the last pair of tickets. It's really full house in the theater. Nearly have to end up sitting at the staircase by the side. Luckily, found a seat and cramped in with bf.   


For the true spirit of this film, we wasn't even charged for the tickets. There's a barter exchange system and by bringing something of value to Sinema will be able to exchange for the movie ticket. The list of items is limitless and includes office stationery, batteries, food, instant noodles, cookies, drinks etc. Strictly no money is involved.  


This documentary portraits the life of a 68 years old German woman called Heidemarie Schwermer. After encountering a major setback with her marriage, she moved house and saw many homeless people. With her strong belief that the homeless do not need money to re-enter the society, instead they have to make themselves useful. Quoted by her, "I've always believed that even if you have nothing, you are worth a lot. Everyone has a place in this world." She set up a kind of swap shop (Tauschring) to help those homeless people. In this shop, people exchange their skills or possessions for other skills and possessions. It's a money free zone where a haircut can be exchange for a massage, a still functioning telephone for some second hand clothings. 

She took one step further in 1996 when she decided to live without money. She gave up her apartment, gave away her belongings and pension money and brings along with her nothing but a suitcase of clothes. She moved from house to house, in return for menial work. Sometime, strangers invited her and paid for her transportation fare just so that she can live with them as they are curious on how she survived. We saw how she went to the super-mart to ask the owner to share some daily necessities in exchange for her helping to clean the shop. She claimed to feel free like a bird and definitely stress free as she lived this alternative lifestyle. We saw how often she traveled, how she went on TV shows and get nervous, how she talked to owners to get something in exchange. 

This documentary really calls for a reflections. Why do we want to desire for that 10 over pair of shoes when we can just settle for 3 for the most basic? Why do we keep complaining that money is not enough? Is it really things are getting more and more expansive? Or are we getting more and more greedy and can't even be satisfied for the basic of life? Think about it, how many things we actually buy on impulse which we later put in the wardrobe and the item ended up not being used at all. Not that I think we can live without money in Singapore but just hope that we can have this true spirit of give and share and being selfless instead of complaining and demanding.       

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Last episode of Taboo on #Okto - Crime Scene Cleaner + Miners + Corpse Research Sudent

Today shows the last episode of Taboo. It's my all time favourite documentary. Next time thursday nothing much to watch already.

Today's plot was about jobs. Jobs that not many people would love to do. Jobs that deals with Taboo topics like death.

1. Crime Scene Cleaner

When there's a crime scene and dead bodies are involved, do you ever think of who will be the ones cleaning up the place after that? The police? The family members? No, there is actually companies set up to deal with the cleaning of crime scenes by people called the Crime Scene Cleaners in the USA. One of the toughest job encountered was to clean up the aftermath of a man committing suicide by jumping onto the train railway track. They have to ensure that every body pieces, body fluid and even strand of clothes and hair were clean up since body parts and body fluids contains viruses. Beside having to exposed themselves from all these viruses, there are stress from the job as well. Some people just can't detach themselves of what they are doing. Probably thinking of how the person died, why the person commit suicide.



2. Sulphur Miner

Though obsolete in most countries for centuries, this job still exist at Indonesia East Java. In the past, this job is done by the horses, however, horses often falls on the rocky rock so men walking on foot is more stable in carrying. The miners would enter the volcano to extract sulphur. Breathing in Sulphur dioxide is life threatening and breathing felts like having asthma attack to some of them. Those poor miners have to stay there for about 5 hours and the only safety precautions the miners had is just a pair or rubber boots and a cloth that does little to filter the sulphur. In the West, government has banned this activity but with high level of unemployment in East Java, they felt blessed that they can get this job with high salary. The money they earned was 3 times the wages of a factory worker and 4 times that of a farm worker. The short term financial compromise with whatever health problems they had. Their wife was worries for them but at the same time proud. Only $6 per day and it is already considered alot. We earned so much (without having to compromise our health and carry heavy weights) and yet we complained money not enough? Why?



3. Research Student at Tennessee - The Body Farm

In the 3 acres field at the behind the University of Tennessee Medical Center lies about 180 bodies. DEAD BODIES! They are being scattered around with different degree of decomposition. When a human died our body auto breaks down from the stomach to the chest to the limbs and a week later the face and muscles were turned into a wax like substance. When the dead body was left under the sun, millions of flies would come within just half an hour and tens of thousands of maggots would be happily eating the tissues. Why do they do this? It's a research to study the process of decomposition and to aids the forensic department. Through this, they can learn more about the two aspect that can help to solve a crime and that is the time and circumstances of death. You might think nobody would like their body to be left in the woods without any proper burial but actually they are on a waiting list to be there. For the sake of science. They sacrifices to let the body rot in the wild.



In conclusion, we might not want the same jobs as them but we respect them for their courage to be able to handle these jobs.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Watching Taboo on #okto - Vampires, Snatching of wifes, Vow of Marriage, Sacrifices for love

It's another interesting episode of Taboo!

A brief summary of today's episode

1. California L.A.

The existence of Vampires are true. However, they are not like what we see in the movies whereby they dig their vampire teeth into the neck and suck the blood of the victim. Instead in Califonia L.A, the male "vampire" would use a knife to cut through the flesh of his girlfriend and drink the blood from there. The drinking of blood of their partner is considered romantic and sexual. Somewhat reminds me of Twilight the movie.

Below is a link that teach you how to look like a Twilight Vampire. Heehee. Cool.

http://www.wikihow.com/Look-Like-a-Twilight-Vampire



2. African - Sahara Dessert.

A male beauty pageant was conducted and good looks give the guys a chance to steal another man's wife. The main settlement called Wudabi and they are mostly nomadic. To them there's usually two marriages; One is when the parents arrange for them when they were 2 - 3 years old. The other is during this male pageant dance festival. During the dance, the women and men would drop hints to let each other know if either party is interested in them or not. If both are interested in each other, the man would attempt to went to the woman house and "steal" her away. This is legal and the woman can leave with him provided the woman's husband didn't found out. If on the way back, the husband found out, the husband have the right to fight his wife back. If the woman successfully go to the guys house the husband has no more right. It is alright for the men to have many wifes but when the wife is pregnant the wife must go back to their parents house for 3 - 4 years.

(Couldn't find any photos of their male pageant online. However, I thought it's really a unique way to get a second wife by stealing. The guy must really love the woman alot since there's also some risk involved just in case the husband found out and a fight broke out between them. )

3 . Australia - Melbourne

Normally, marriage vows are exchanged during the wedding ceremony in the presence of a witness. However, there's this guy who decided to carve the shape of the left palm of his wife to his chest area. Not tattoo on, but carved out leaving a permanent scar. The scar serves as his vows to be forever with his wife and be faithful and loyal. Since the scar will forever be there and cannot be removed.

Photos below are forwarded to me previously through e-mail.









4. USA - California.

A small part of women here falls in love with guys in prison. They contact through writing mails and the occasion prison visit. Full of hope, the women would wait till the days the guys came out of jail. Foolish to some since there's will always be some prejudice as to whether this inmate would really turned over a new leaf when they were released. However, to some psychiatrist, they felt this is a good way for letting the inmate change as they have someone to look forward to seeing when they are out.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Watching Taboo on #okto - Long Necked Karen Tribe, Breast Ironing, Body Modification

Thanks to my "TV Guide" AKA Ms Leong for reminding me to watch Taboo tonight. If not I sure miss it. Taboo is a documentary that brings us to the different countries' (most of which we wouldn't visit) cultures and customs most of which are illegal and forbidden elsewhere. I remembered vividly in the last season of Taboo one of the photographer sacrifice his life while doing the filming. The set-up of that episode falls down as it was unstable.

A brief summary on today's episode

1. The long – necked Karen hill tribes

In our MSN conversation, I told Ms Leong that those women would probably died the moment the rings were removed and she too has query on whether the neck would wobble. To our amusement, all our beliefs are just myths. After removing the brass ring, the neck just looked longer and perhaps in some cases one would have some bruises. To the outsiders, it may seems uncomfortable and strange, but to them, they are proud of this unique culture heritage.



Image Reference : http://www.thailand-life.com/long_necked_karen_hill_tribe.html

2. Breast Ironing

A very cruel act that the Cameroon girls have to go through. Though the intention might be good, (mother or grandmother worried that their daughters' budding breasts would expose them to risk of rape and got pregnant too early.) but imagine the pain the girls have to go through. The mother actually "iron" the girls' bosoms with a heated stone. This is to try to suppress the growth of the breasts and to delay puberty.




3. Body Modification

Well well, some people just love those "Muscles" but not me. I think it looks scary and you know how advance the cosmetic surgery is now? It's not just for the women, even guys go for it. To build up their muscles! OMG! Those fakers. Some don't get that kind of result they want on photo shots so they went for the body modification to make their body looks more perfect. One guy tried to make his butt looks rounder (for goodness sake, a guy need a rounder butt for what?) and another tried to put some muscles to the lower thigh and chest area. Just yucks.