| Wednesday, February 22, 2006 |
| Oscar for good work |
I am taking issue with the way movies are selected for awards. I am sure any sensible person would do so when Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit beat The Constant Gardener in the Best British film category. And film critics say that it was because this year the competition was fierce. Come on! If the gay cowboys’ film and The C. Gardener were up against each other, I would have bought that argument. Both are about current controversial issues, both make strong statements, both were politically ambitious, both introduce new perspectives on old issues, etc… But, Wallace and Gromit. Come on!
Watch the bonus stuff on The Gardener’s DVD. To me that movie is a pioneer on several grounds – daring in selection of location (the slums in the outskirt of Nairobi), daring in moving away from the glamour of Hollywood and use Kenyans from the slums throughout the movie, ethical in respecting locals however poor they are and socially responsible in planning to leave much needed infrastructure behind…. I think the criteria for awards should be turned up side down and in side out. It’s time that social responsibility is added in the ingredient. Yeah, I’m a sore looser too!
Until such time comes where movies are also judged by their positive social contributions, I’ll take comfort in Fast Company magazine’s annual Social Capitalist Awards. Every year, the magazine acknowledges entrepreneurs “who are changing the world”. 25 good companies were the winners this year out of 278 nominations, 119 applicants and 53 finalists. TRANSFAIR USA is amongst the winners. They are the fair trade gurus who cut out the greedy middleman and link poor farmers in developing countries directly to US distributors.
By the way, Michael Moore is cooking up a ‘let’s bash pharmaceutical companies’ (or is it insurance companies?) documentary. He is gathering real life drama from the average Joe and Suzie. If you have a story to tell, go to his web site and see how you can participate.
Interesting links
Fast Company’s social section
Corporate Social Responsibility
Trans Fair USA
Fair Trade related issues
The Constant Gardener |
posted by Fikirte @ 10:07 AM
 
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