Last month, I wrote about the effects of hydraulic fracturing on the lives of Julie and Craig Sautner. Today public interest investigative website, ProPublica, reports that "a scientific study has linked natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing with a pattern of drinking water contamination so severe that some faucets can be lit on fire". The study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, "stands to shape the contentious debate over whether drilling is safe and begins to fill an information gap that has made it difficult for lawmakers and the public to understand the risks", reports ProPublica. Click here for the full story.
Monday 9 May 2011
Saturday 7 May 2011
Gender bias in South Asian film industry?
Critically renowned Indian Filmmaker, Aparna Sen, was on a panel at the New York Indian Film Festival today, talking about her work and whether she has experienced "gender bias" in the industry.
Sen said: "I am often asked what it's like to be a women in a male-dominated industry and I've always said that I haven't come across any gender bias."
Sen explained: "A film unit is a bunch of very disciplined individuals and when they know that you know the job they shut up and listen and do what they are asked to. It's only when you are nonplussed that they won't take you seriously."
I have often heard women, in competitive industries who have male connections (like Sen) or who have such force-of-nature personalities that they just steamroll through to get what they want, make this kind of comment. There is an element of truth to it, but that doesn't mean there are not hurdles for women in less fortunate positions than Sen. The Bengali filmmaker did later go on to say that there was an invisible boy's club.
Others on the panel included, Vaishali Sinha talking discussing her documentary film, Made In India, about a western couple seeking an Indian woman for a surrogacy contract, and Bela Negi, on her film, Daayen Ya Baayen, about a man trying to find his dignity in poor village.
A great antidote to mainstream Bollywood.
Sen said: "I am often asked what it's like to be a women in a male-dominated industry and I've always said that I haven't come across any gender bias."
Sen explained: "A film unit is a bunch of very disciplined individuals and when they know that you know the job they shut up and listen and do what they are asked to. It's only when you are nonplussed that they won't take you seriously."
I have often heard women, in competitive industries who have male connections (like Sen) or who have such force-of-nature personalities that they just steamroll through to get what they want, make this kind of comment. There is an element of truth to it, but that doesn't mean there are not hurdles for women in less fortunate positions than Sen. The Bengali filmmaker did later go on to say that there was an invisible boy's club.
Others on the panel included, Vaishali Sinha talking discussing her documentary film, Made In India, about a western couple seeking an Indian woman for a surrogacy contract, and Bela Negi, on her film, Daayen Ya Baayen, about a man trying to find his dignity in poor village.
A great antidote to mainstream Bollywood.
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