Here and Now, There and Back; bioturbation, 3d animation and re-creation

September 9, 2010 6:28 AM

“We strive for a future that we cannot touch, and memories of our life’s past leave traces that form a road behind us. When we stop, there are no traffic lights and no give way signs; only ourselves in the here and now.” -Here and Now: Sonia Yee

Here and Now: Produced by Sonia Yee

New Zealand is renowned for its sweeping natural landscape, safe, clean-green environment, and ready access to adventure sports and tourism. But how does the landscape influence the character and mentality of those who inhabit it? With a population of around 4.1 million, at least 1 in 20 young New Zealanders seek opportunities overseas every year to gain experiences that don’t exist back home. Howard Sly was one of those young people who left New Zealand wanting something more.
What is it like to live only in the moment? Howard Sly made a split second decision to act bravely during a fight in a nightclub and he has been living with the physical and emotional injuries ever since. Meanwhile, Cheyne Berry’s love of sports and the outdoors keeps him in New Zealand, but it’s a swim on a summer’s day that brings his life crashing to a halt.
This program was produced by Radio New Zealand for the Global Perspective series.

"This year the international documentary series Global Perspectives has the theme ‘At the Edge’.

For the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, this is explored in the first person documentary Middle C, in which Tristan Whiston chronicles his year-long gender transition from woman to man - through the change in his singing voice.

Tristan Whiston first performed as solo soprano at the age of six and years of hard work led to an accomplished singing career.
But two years ago, Tristan decided to give up the most precious thing a singer has — the voice.

For a year, Tristan kept audio diaries, including milestones like the his first testosterone shot and the first time he shaved.

But the most striking thing about these diaries is the transformation of his singing voice.

Tristan starts out as a soprano whose voice soars on the high notes. As the testosterone takes effect on Tristan’s body, that sublime voice is ripped to shreds and has to be completely recast - just like his identity."

posted by infinite intimation (2 comments total)

Global Perspective
(itunes podcasts link)
Global Perspective is a documentary series produced by seven international broadcasters, each year work produced around a single theme. This year it's At the Edge.
Host Karin Wells presents stories of renegades and radicals, people pushing boundaries of all kinds - political, social, gender. Some find themselves on the margins by choice, others by circumstance. But each of them dwells at the edge, if only for a while.


• June 30: At the Edge in Soweto (South Africa): Two brothers cope with long-term unemployment and the constant temptation to make a fast buck.

• July 14: Wedge Island (Australia) The residents of Wedge Island are squatters. The Western Australian government wants to remove them. But the shackies are primed for the fight of their lives.

• July 21: The Education of Ashif Jaffer (Canada) Not so long ago, the idea of a student with Down Syndrome in a university was unthinkable. Ashif Jaffer wants to change that. [only place I could find this one, choose the April 19, 2009 episode it is right after the interview with Mr. Ignatief. (via comments at CBC.ca)]

• Aug 4: Finding Alfa (Canada) Hardcore graffiti isn't about painting pretty murals on easy-to-reach surfaces. It is about writing your name where everyone can see it, artfully, against the law and at great personal risk.

• Aug 11: Longhair (Hong Kong) Leung Kwok Heung has been an active Marxist for forty years. His political activism has landed him in jail several times, but in recent years he's found enough support in traditionally conservative Hong Kong to have been elected as Legislator - twice.

• Aug 18: The Lonely Funeral (Netherlands) Ger Frits and Frank Starik forged an unlikely friendship and created a small community based on respect for the lonely citizens of the city.

• Aug 25: Who is Vern Nash? (Canada) The day Thelon Oeming moved into an apartment in a working class area of Toronto, he saw a hunched-back man shouting to himself in the middle of the street.

Soon after that, the sounds of an accordion filled the air and Thelon discovered that this apparently tormented man was Vern Nash, a talented musician and his new neighbor. Thelon’s instincts were to record Vern, and maybe even to help him. Thelon Oeming draws an artful portrait of a talented jazz musician who has music in his soul and demons in his head.

• Sept 1: Living in Limbo (United Kingdom) No-one in the UK is more marginalized than those asylum seekers who have had their applications rejected but have not yet been asked to leave. It is a life in limbo that can last as long as eight years.


Fedora tip: Soundprint.org (radio documentaries list; "fatwas" on this list is also really intriguing)
Global Perspective series 2009 ("islands"), 2008 ("escape")
posted by infinite intimation at 6:30 AM on September 9, 2010

Beautiful. I've heard some of these (Middle C is very poignant). As I live on an island, last year's theme was really appealing.

Thanks for posting.
posted by salishsea at 7:04 AM on September 9, 2010 [1 favorite]