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Category: Journalism

Night Of The Slasher Makes Meta-Horror Personal (#SXSW Film Review)
Janelle, the protagonist of "Night of the Slasher," dressed in her underwear, a white t-shirt, and a flannel shirt, holds a meat cleaver in a suburban kitchen. (Night of The Slasher publicity still)
March 21, 2016
Kit
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Night Of The Slasher Makes Meta-Horror Personal (#SXSW Film Review)

Posted in Journalism, and SXSW

A supernatural serial killer stalks a teenage girl after she smokes pot, drinks beer, dances half-naked and has casual sex.

It’s an image that’s moved beyond cliché and into the realm of “meta-horror,” when the genre comments on its own obsessions with slut-shaming and male power fantasies. Meta-horror may have reached its ultimate expression in Joss Whedon’s “Cabin In The Woods” (2012), which reimagines the tropes of horror films as a dark, Lovecraftian ritual that also implicates the viewer, wagging a finger at us for enjoying the gore and the terror quite so much.

Shant Hamassian’s 2015 short film “Night Of The Slasher” (2015) is also meta-horror, but it takes place on a more personal, even intimate scale. Jenelle (Lily Berlina, expressing a great deal with almost no words) works through a literal checklist of horror tropes to deliberately attract the killer. The scar on her neck tells us she’s encountered him before, and we soon realize she’s out for vengeance.

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Jewish Activists Protest Israeli Rebranding Of Conflict At SXSW
An activist holds a "Stop Israeli Terrorism" sign outside the JW Marriott hotel in Austin, Texas on March 14, 2016. Jewish Voice For Peace organized the protest against the Israeli ambassador's appearance on the SXSW panel, "Building The Perfect Country." (Kit O'Connell)
March 18, 2016
Kit
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Jewish Activists Protest Israeli Rebranding Of Conflict At SXSW

Posted in Journalism, MintPress News, and SXSW

At least two dozen activists drummed, rapped, and danced as SXSW attendees streamed into the JW Marriott in downtown Austin, Texas, on Monday morning for a panel titled “Building The Perfect Country.”

Panelists included Ido Aharoni, the consul general of Israel in New York and one of the key minds behind “Brand Israel,” a campaign aimed at boosting the nation’s image abroad by adopting marketing techniques used by successful companies.

“Our brand was almost universally, is almost universally associated with conflict,” Aharoni said at the panel held during SXSW, the annual nine-day music, film and technology festival held here. He compared Israel to other countries like Turkey, which are perceived more favorably than Israel even though they’re also home to “geopolitical conflict” and human rights abuses.

Organized by the local chapter of Jewish Voice For Peace, the protesters outside the panel objected to the idea that a country based on occupation could be anything resembling perfection.

Read moreJewish Activists Protest Israeli Rebranding Of Conflict At SXSW
#SXSW: The Week So Far … From Polyamory To Pee-Wee
Priscilla Faia, Greg Poehler, and Melanie Papalia laugh and horse around during their "You Me Her" red carpet appearance at SXSW 2016 on March 15, 2016. (Kit O'Connell)
March 17, 2016
Kit
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#SXSW: The Week So Far … From Polyamory To Pee-Wee

Posted in Journalism, and SXSW

SXSW Interactive wrapped up on Tuesday, and after 5 days of chasing stories around the Convention Center and nearby hotels, my energy level just about ran out. I took Wednesday off from doing anything important other than writing, and spent Tuesday and Wednesday resting and catching up on my personal life, instead of partying or listening to music.

It’s all not very gonzo. What would Hunter do?

But I’m not Hunter Thompson, as trolls like to remind me on Twitter from time to time. I’ve accepted this fact, and rather than snorting some speed, as he would probably advise, I’ll stick to naps.

But, there’s three more days (and nights) of SXSW and I intend to make the most of them.

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Can ‘Sousveillance’ Bring Down Police States?
A group of masked Japanese protesters film the police with a videocamera in this Dec. 21, 2008 photograph. (Flickr / David Shackelford)
March 17, 2016
Kit
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Can ‘Sousveillance’ Bring Down Police States?

Posted in Journalism, MintPress News, and SXSW

From the footage of Eric Garner’s death to YouTube videos of Israeli soldiers’ violence against Palestinians, recordings made by everyday people are providing powerful evidence against the actions of police states around the world.

One NGO is harnessing that power and using it against some of the world’s most repressive regimes and dangerous criminals. Videre Est Credere (Latin for “to see is to believe”) provides hidden cameras and specialized training to victims of war crimes and human rights abuses from Africa to Asia.

Oren Yakobovich, CEO of Videre, said the organization’s main goal is to force governments to “protect human rights, or take another kind of action to make people’s lives better. It doesn’t matter how they do it, whether it’s in court or changing legislation.”

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SXSW Day 4: Protesting Israel, Legalizing Cannabis
In this March 14, 2016 photograph, a group of activists protest outside the JW Marriott Hotel in Austin, Texas. One activist is drumming, some perform an interpretive dance while others hold signs with words like "bombing" and "destroy." (Kit O'Connell)
March 15, 2016
Kit
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SXSW Day 4: Protesting Israel, Legalizing Cannabis

Posted in Journalism, and SXSW

I finally got a few solid hours of sleep last night, which is good since I was back downtown at 8:30am to attend a protest sponsored by Jewish Voice For Peace. They were targeting the panel “Building The Perfect Country,” which featured Israel’s general consul in New York, Ido Aharoni, among others.

Obviously, some folks felt like Israel has no business being on a panel with that name. Additionally, Aharoni is the leading mind behind the “Brand Israel” campaign, which seeks to replace Israel’s current image (“conflict! occupation! war crimes!”) with a white-washed alternative (“innovation! creativity! democracy!”).

The security — which was heavy! — gave me some serious stink eye when I went from the protest to the panel. I’ll be writing about both events for MintPress News.

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New Technologies Connect Prisoners to the Outside World
Laurin Hodge, Marcus Bullock and Teresa Hodge appeared at SXSW on March 11, 2016 for a panel on prison technology. (Kit O'Connell)
March 14, 2016
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New Technologies Connect Prisoners to the Outside World

Posted in Journalism, SXSW, and The Texas Observer

Can the tech industry be recruited to help end mass incarceration?

On Friday at SXSW Interactive, part of Austin’s nine-day SXSW music, film and technology conference, a panel of app developers and nonprofit founders took on the question, connecting lower recidivism rates with keeping incarcerated people in touch with family and friends.

“If you haven’t been in prison, You can’t understand how important mail calls are,” said panelist Marcus Bullock.

Bullock’s the CEO of FlikShop, an app that allows family and friends to inexpensively turn photos into postcards that are then automatically mailed to prison facilities.

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