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The doctrine of noninterference

The doctrine of noninterference turned into a charter for all around interference for one reason: the occupying power gave itself the prerogative to define the boundaries of that in which it will not interfere, and then to define the content of the authentic religion with which there was to be no interference, and finally, to acknowledge the authentic authority that would define and safeguard religion in its pure form—without external interference. The prerogative to define the boundary, the substance and the authority of the “customary,” gave vast scope to the powers of the occupying authority. But the exercise of this power, the list of those to be “protected,” was politically determined—and it grew as time passed.

Mamdani, Define and Rule

NYIFF 2013 and Other Screenings

We are very happy to announce that Please Don’t Beat Me, Sir! will have its North American premier in New York City at the 13th Annual New York Indian Film Festival . (You can purchase tickets for the Saturday, May 4th screening via the website.)

NYIFF 2013

For those in Europe, the film will be playing Etnofilm in Rovinj, Croatia later this month and Ethnocineca in Vienna in mid-May.

Please Don’t Beat Me, Sir! has also screened at numerous festivals since our last update. For the full schedule of screenings please see our website

In addition to festival screenings we’ve done a number of university screenings followed by Q&A sessions we’ve conducted via Skype. These have worked out surprisingly well and we are always happy to work with schools to organize such screenings. Just drop us an email if you are interested.

Video on Demand

We are very happy to announce that, in an effort to ensure that as many people as possible see our film, we are now offering Please Don’t Beat Me, Sir! for online streaming via Vimeo On Demand. On Demand is a brand new distribution platform from Vimeo which allows you to watch films streaming on the web, smartphones, tablets, and on web-connected TVs (like Roku).

We hate paying for things which we don’t get to keep, so we are especially pleased that Vimeo offers filmmakers the option of including file downloads as well as online streaming. If you watch our film online on Vimeo you can also download a copy of the film to your own hard drive and watch it whenever and wherever you want.

Vimeo

Since we first released the DVD people have been asking us about online access, and after looking at all the available options we feel that Vimeo On Demand offers users the best possible viewing experience. If you haven’t seen the film yet, we hope that the ease of using Vimeo On Demand will convince you to watch it today! If you do watch it on Vimeo, please be sure to let others know how much you like it by leaving a review.

Although Vimeo On Demand splits revenue 90/10 with the filmmaker, there is a hefty annual fee. For this reason we aren’t sure how long we will be able to keep the film online, so consider this a limited-time experiment. We don’t expect to turn a profit, but we do need to break-even…

Online streaming via Vimeo as well as the downloadable movie file are intended only for individual viewers. We ask that those interested in holding public screenings of the film, such as classroom use, continue to purchase the DVD via our via our website. We offer discounts on DVD purchases by individuals, non-profits, and community colleges.

World of Birds

You’d think that Hualien, perched against the Pacific Ocean and separated by mountains from the concrete jungles of Taiwan’s West Coast, would be as far as one can get from where I grew up: New York City. And, indeed, it sometimes feels that way: like when I want a bagel, or an off-broadway play, or to hear John Zorn make some noise on his saxophone. But sometimes Hualien can remind me of home… in the most unexpected ways.

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Inconvenient Ideas

Whenever Darwin encountered a “published fact” or “new observation” that contradicted one of his beliefs, he forced himself to “make a memorandum of it without fail and at once.” Why did Darwin do this? Because he had “found by experience that such facts and thoughts” – those inconvenient ideas – “were far more apt to escape from the memory than favorable ones.

Whatever you think of Jonah Lehrer’s apology, this is a wonderful little tidbit. I wonder, though, if Darwin really did this “without fail”?

Sunday Readings at the New Inquiry

Do you find it difficult to keep up with all the links I post to Facebook or Twitter? Well, since the start of the year I’ve been contributing my favorite links to Aaron Bady’s weekly “Sunday Reading” section on his New Inquiry blog.

While most of us probably feel that we have too much to read, we still find ourselves foolishly looking for something new. Well, look no further than “Sunday Reading”! Each week Aaron culls links from a dozen regular contributors and you are bound to find more than a few great articles or websites there each week.

I also archive links on my Pinboard account in case you are looking for something you know I posted but can’t remember when or where.

Consider the word ‘balti’

Consider the word ‘balti’ for instance; derived from the Portuguese ‘balde’, it probably referred originally to ship’s buckets: today, no Indian household is complete without a set of tin or plastic baltis, just as no English town is without its supply of  ‘balti chicken‘, which was probably also a Laskari invention.

via Amitav Ghosh.

The Sperm Whale’s Brow

Whale

To scan the lines of his face, or feel the bumps on the head of this Leviathan; this is a thing which no Physiognomist or Phrenologist has as yet undertaken…

Physiognomically regarded, the Sperm Whale is an anomalous creature. He has no proper nose. And since the nose is the central and most conspicuous of the features; and since it perhaps most modifies and finally controls their combined expression; hence it would seem that its entire absence, as an external appendage, must very largely affect the countenance of the whale…A nose to the whale would have been impertinent…

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The Children’s Wing of Budhan Theatre

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Towards the end of Please Don’t Beat Me, Sir! there is an interview with two boys who had written a play about the Budhan Theatre library: Harry and Siddharth. They admit how scared they were that someone might forget their lines. We always get a laugh when they reveal that they wrote the mother role in their play just for the girl Nandini because they knew she would be good in the fight scene. Well, shortly after we finished primary shooting, Harry’s father passed away. You might remember Harry’s father from the film. He was the one who was beaten by the police after he tried to “go straight” by opening a store. Once a promising student and playwright, his father’s death forced Harry to leave Budhan Theatre to work at his father’s shop on the main road. Now history is repeating itself as Harry is frequently in trouble with the police. Siddharth, on the other hand, was able to continue with the theater. He is still in school, now in 11th grade and studying arts.

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