 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2014) |
Undercurrents is an alternative video news network which began with the UK distribution of videotapes shot by volunteers. It has since expanded to include a web presence, media training for volunteers, and a film festival, BeyondTV.
Undercurrents is an alternative news agency which came into being in 1994 with a VHS videocassette of news [1] which the founders (Jamie Hartzell, Paul O'Connor, Zoe Broughton, and Thomas Harding) felt were not being addressed by the mainstream media. One of the issues covered was the introduction of the Criminal Justice Bill, whose varied measures included attempts to curtail large gatherings both of travelers and raves and make direct action protest a criminal offence. A second video compilation was released before the end of the year. Bands such as the Levellers included Undercurrents references on their CD sleeves. Radiohead have donated funds and comedian Mark Thomas allowed undercurrents to produce and distribute his first DVD to raise funds. Undercurrents was amongst the first groups which coined the phrase 'video activism'- the use of camcorders for social change. A co-founder, Thomas Harding, wrote The Video Activist Handbook published by Pluto Press. [2] Undercurrents now distribute films via DVD and in 2009 they launched visionOntv - a peer-to-peer TV channel over the internet.
Many of the video activists who worked at Undercurrents went on to work at Oxford Channel including Roddy Mansfield, Jason Torrance, Thomas Harding, and Debora Harding. But they found that local TV was not the way forward [3] and Undercurrents continued to distribute via DVD and community screenings. In 2009 they launched The Sol Cinema a micro touring cinema powered by lithium batteries [4] and designed by Jo Furlong.
Celebrating the tenth anniversary of both Undercurrents and SchNEWS in 2004, writer and activist George Monbiot wrote,
"There are plenty of alternative media in Europe, but I've yet to come across any which are as informative and entertaining as these. If ever I forget why I'm an activist, Undercurrents and Schnews are there to remind me. […] Whenever I've seen a copy of Undercurrents, I feel my head's going to explode with inspiration and new ideas". [5]
Undercurrents has won a number of awards including Digital Hero awards 2011, as well as film festivals in Germany, Tokyo, France, USA, UK, and the Czech republic.
Undercurrents subsequently became a non-profit company and a registered charity. Having previously moved their office from London to Oxford, they are now based in The Environment Centre in Swansea.[ citation needed ]
Some of their footage of political protests has been used in court cases, including footage of the Genoa G8 summit, [6] and a police raid on indymedia work spaces.
In 2006, Undercurrents was chosen as The Guardian's campaign of the week. [7] The article stated that Undercurrents' "most successful piece is probably Evolving Minds, a film by Melissa Gunasena about dealing with mental health problems". [7] The following year, Undercurrents released EcoVillage Pioneers- a documentary exploring sustainable low-impact communities around the world.
Many of their latest videos are hosted on YouTube. Undercurrents have also embarked upon a new project for distributing activists' videos.
Undercurrents are currently producing video podcasts about environmental issues such as climate change. Online video series include On the Push- Surfing and Climate change, A-Z of Bushcraft & Survival, Roundwood Timber Frame building, and Living in the Future- Ecovillages. [8]
Natural Born Killers is a 1994 American crime film directed by Oliver Stone and starring Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Jr., Tommy Lee Jones, and Tom Sizemore. The film tells the story of two victims of traumatic childhoods who become lovers and mass murderers, and are irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access to videos, television shows and films without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of over-the-air programming was the most common form of media distribution. As Internet and IPTV technologies continued to develop in the 1990s, consumers began to gravitate towards non-traditional modes of content consumption, which culminated in the arrival of VOD on televisions and personal computers.
Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, 18+ films, or also known as blue movie or blue film are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse, fascinate, or satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include erotically stimulating material such as nudity (softcore) and sexual intercourse (hardcore). A distinction is sometimes made between "erotic" and "pornographic" films on the basis that the latter category contains more explicit sexuality, and focuses more on arousal than storytelling; the distinction is highly subjective.
ZNetwork, formerly known as Z Communications, is a left-wing activist-oriented media group founded in 1986 by Michael Albert and Lydia Sargent. It is, in broad terms, ideologically libertarian socialist, anti-capitalist, and heavily influenced by participatory economics, although much of its content is focused on critical commentary of foreign affairs. Its publications include Z Magazine, ZNet, and Z Video. Since early November 2022, they have all been regrouped under the name ZNetwork.
Six TV was the sixth free to air terrestrial television channel in the United Kingdom, broadcast in Oxford and Southampton. It was the final analogue network to have been launched after BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. It operated under a set of Restricted Television Service Licences, broadcasting on UHF channel 47 in Oxford and channel 29 in Southampton. It was owned by Oxford Broadcasting, who launched the channel in 1999; Oxford Broadcasting was sold to Milestone Group in 2001, who closed all operations by April 2009.
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros.
I've Heard the Mermaids Singing is a 1987 Canadian comedy-drama film directed by Patricia Rozema and starring Sheila McCarthy, Paule Baillargeon, and Ann-Marie MacDonald. It was the first English-language Canadian feature film to win an award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony.
LoveFilm was a United Kingdom–based provider of DVD-by-mail and streaming video on demand in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany.
Loose Change is a series of films released between 2005 and 2009 that argue in favor of certain conspiracy theories relating to the September 11 attacks. The films were written and directed by Dylan Avery and produced by Korey Rowe, Jason Bermas, and Matthew Brown.
The Cove is a 2009 American documentary film directed by Louie Psihoyos that analyzes and questions dolphin hunting practices in Japan. It was awarded the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2010. The film is a call to action to halt mass dolphin kills and captures, change Japanese fishing practices, and inform and educate the public about captivity and the increasing hazard of mercury poisoning from consuming dolphin meat.
Spiked is a British Internet magazine focusing on politics, culture and society. The magazine was founded in 2001 with the same editor and many of the same contributors as Living Marxism, which had closed in 2000 after losing a case for libel brought by ITN.
The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) is a British organisation established in 1983 to protect and represent the interests of its members' intellectual property (IP). FACT also investigates fraud and cybercrime, and provides global due diligence services to support citizenship investment and trade, business, financial and legal compliance.
Home video is recorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD and Blu-ray. In a different usage, "home video" refers to amateur video recordings, also known as home movies.
The Age of Stupid is a 2009 British docufiction film directed by Franny Armstrong, with first-time producer Lizzie Gillett. The executive producer is John Battsek. The film is a drama-documentary-animation hybrid. It combines documentary footage from 2008 with Pete Postlethwaite portraying a man living alone in a devastated world of 2055, who asks "Why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance?"
Hit So Hard is a 2011 American documentary film directed by P. David Ebersole. The film details the life and near death story of Patty Schemel, drummer of the seminal '90s alternative rock band Hole, and charts her early life, music career, and spiral into crack cocaine addiction. The film weaves together Hi8 video footage Schemel recorded while on Hole's 1994-95 world tour with contemporary interviews with her, bandmates Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, and Melissa Auf der Maur, as well as her family members. The film also features interviews with other female drummers and musicians, including Nina Gordon, Kate Schellenbach, Gina Schock, Debbi Peterson, and Phranc.
MAPPA Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Suginami, Tokyo. Founded in 2011 by Madhouse co-founder and producer Masao Maruyama, it has produced anime works including Terror in Resonance, Yuri!!! on Ice, In This Corner of the World, Kakegurui, Banana Fish, Zombie Land Saga, Dororo, Dorohedoro, The God of High School, Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan: The Final Season, Vinland Saga Season 2, Chainsaw Man and Hell's Paradise.MAPPA is an acronym for Maruyama Animation Produce Project Association.
Pluto TV is a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service owned and operated by the Paramount Streaming division of Paramount Global.
Blue Planet II is a 2017 British nature documentary series on marine life produced by the BBC Natural History Unit. Like its predecessor, The Blue Planet (2001), it is narrated and presented by naturalist Sir David Attenborough.
Double Down News (DDN) is a British alternative media outlet founded in 2017 by Yannis Mendez. Funded through Patreon, it produces interviews, films and short films from a left-wing perspective.
