When Spain’s Javier Bardem won the Academy Award for Best Supporting actor for his role in the Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men, he responded by saying

Mamá, esto es para ti. Esto es para tus abuelos, para tus padres, Rafael y Matilde. Esto es para los cómicos de España que han traído la dignidad y el orgullo a nuestro oficio. Esto es para España. Y esto es para todos vosotros

which means

Mom, this is for you. This is for your grandparents, for your parents, Rafael and Matilde. This is for the Comics of Spain who brought so much pride and dignity to our profession. This is for Spain. This is for all of you.

OK. But what does that mean?

Read the rest of this entry »

Robert Capa & Gerda Taro join Susan Sarandon & Tim Robbins, Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee, and Lucie & Raymond
Aubrac, in receiving one of my Valiant Valentines Awards for couples who love each other and the world, and work with each other to change the world. Robert Capa, one of the most famous, if not the most famous, war photographers of the last century, is best known for his photo Falling Soldier, which captures a shot soldier falling to his death during the Spanish Civil War. Gerda Taro, the less known photojournalist, is best known for being Capa’s artistic and romantic partner, not for her exceptional bravery and photography. The two brilliant photographers shared much in common: born Andre Friedmann, Capa, who was Jewish, fled the antisemitism of Hungary and went to Paris; born Gerda Pohorylle, the Jewish Taro escaped Germany’s antisemitism and moved to Paris, where she would meet Capa. They began collaborating artistically and Robert Capa was the name they created to sign their shared work. It was their shared love of freedom which brought the two to Spain, where they would document the Civil War– the bombed cities, the deaths and destruction– in the hopes of gathering support and raising awareness of the anti-Fascist cause and of the rising fascism, which they had known so well. Sharing a love for each other as well, they would photograph not just the war, but each other.

Read the rest of this entry »

It must be something in the genocide. How else explain the direct relationship between brutal dictators and longevity. Franco died at 82 , Pinochet at 91, and now Suharto, 86, is clutching for dear life onto his, well, life. Suffering multiple organ failures, Suharto was so near death that his tomb had been prepared and his funeral planned. And yet, somehow, Suharto has made a comeback and his talking and breathing without a ventilator. The dictator’s doctor hopes to send Suharto home but acknowledges “we can only do our best and let God decide.” uh-oh. let’s hope God is more lucid now than he was when he decided to let Suharto steal billions of dollars and kill between 700,000 and a million people.Tell Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to demand justice and accountability for the third of the population of East Timor killed by the Indonesian miliatary.