If you’re near BFI Southbank you’ll have another chance to catch Jonathan Demme’s documentary about former president Jimmy Carter. The doc, entitled Jimmy Carter Man From Plains is an intimate and personal look at our 39th President and his quest to promote peace. The story revolves around a promotional tour for Carter’s controversial book “Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid.”

Roger Ebert made a pretty good case for seeing the film when he wrote: “One reason to see this film might be to learn more about his views on the Middle East, but a better reason might be to observe how he attends to the privilege and responsibility of doing what he believes is the right thing.”

Seems a good way to spend a few hours.

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Many people in the Middle East and North Africa are finding themselves in the unenviable predicament of having to choose between feeding an ever expanding population and preserving an ever dwindling water supply. The population of the region as quadrupled since 1950, and is expected to reach 600 million in the next 40 years. Previously, it has been far more practical to import food rather than produce it given the high cost of food production in the dry, desert climate. But now with 90% mark-ups of some food staples, many countries are rethinking their strategy.

“The countries of the region are caught between the hammer of rising food prices and the anvil of steadily declining water availability per capita,” Alan R. Richards, a professor of economics and environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said via e-mail. “There is no simple solution.”

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

TakePart Gang:

Everything I Know About Climate Change, I Learned in the Fifth Grade by Martin Musatov

When Torture Is Condoned, Is FISA That Shocking? by Wendy Cohen

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Nicole Hughes:

Baltimore Woman Turns Tragedy Into Art

Why Don’t We Do More to Stop Global Warming?

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Andy Kondrat:

Foods You Should and Shouldn’t Buy Organic

Paper or Plastic? The Environmental Impact

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Jon Popham:

The Energy Independence Bill: A Filibuster Odyssey

“Bruno” Fools Mossad Agent

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Gina Telaroli:

While Iran Tests Missiles, Test These 5 Iranian Films

Mao’s Out, Time to Capitalize On the Olympics

Bruno, the gay Austrian journalist character of comic Sascha Baron Cohen, is the talk of Israel after fooling a former Mossad agent in footage for his new film. The movie will feature one of Cohen’s signature bits - refined on his famous Da Ali G Show, and the worldwide hit movie “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” - where former Israeli spy now turned political analyst Yossi Alpher (shown in photo inset) was tricked into what he thought was a serious interview with Bruno, who was sold to him as a “German rock star” and the perfect bridge between political issues and youth culture.

Highlights in the interview included the former spy trying to keep a level head for several minutes on end while Bruno failed to grasp the difference between Hamas and Hummus, claiming the Palestinian organization was “too high in carbohydrates”, and Bruno joining hands with Alper for a song, which Bruno thought was about the Middle East conflict, entitled “Jews and Hindus”. Cohen’s new movie “Bruno” is set to be released in May of 2009.

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It’s June 27th, I’m Gina Telaroli and this is TakePart.com’s look at the week in social action…

The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

Nicole Hughes:

U.S. Media Ignores Link Between Midwest Floods and Global Warming

Top 10 Houseplants for Removing Indoor Air Pollution

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Andy Kondrat:

Dubai to Build Rotating Positive Energy Tower

Bioethicist Peter Singer Tackles World Food Shortage

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Jon Popham:

Americacorps Workers Assist Flood Ravaged Town

Australians “Out-Fat” Americans

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Giulia Rozzi:

Progressive Book Club

Oprah Recommends “A New Earth”

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Gina Telaroli:

Human Rights Watch 2008 Film Festival Update

SilverDocs 2008 Update

So far so good! It’s my last day at Silverdocs but so far it has been nothing short of amazing. Here’s a little refresher on what I’ve seen and also a list of what’s to come. Stay tuned for more Silverdocs 08 and for a comprehensive write-up stocked full of TakePart links about how you can connect to the issues in the films.

Thus Far:

• Silverdocs 08 : Head Wind
• Silverdocs 08 : Meet the Paro (Mechanical Love)
• Silverdocs 08 : Opening Night and All Together Now

To Come:

• A look at Up the Yangtze : http://silverdocs.com/festival/films/2008/yangtze/
• A discussion of the DocuClub screening of my film Stages
  
• Some shorts : http://silverdocs.com/festival/films/2008/shorts-program-4-disconnections/
• Corridor 8 : http://silverdocs.com/festival/films/2008/corridor-8/
• Frederick Wiseman’s Law and Order : http://silverdocs.com/festival/films/2008/law-and-order/
• A film that’s all about Dust : http://silverdocs.com/festival/films/2008/dust/
• More video!!!!
• Lot’s of pictures

For now, here are some pictures from pal Cheryl - who also has a film in this years’ fest!

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/23166402@N06/sets/72157605653795062/
  

Head Wind (directed by Mohammad Rasoulof)

I love my Netflix.. Even though they don’t have a lot of movies that I want to see, they also have a ton of films I do want to see - which makes me and all Netflix users pretty lucky. Freedom to a large variety of cinema is of course not something all folks across the world, especially not in Iran, as Mohammad Rasolouf’s new documentary Head Wind points out. In the film, Rasolouf paints small portraits of the people and communities that are working to bring outside images sounds and cinema to the people of Iran, where they are currently banned by the government.

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World Day Against Child Labor is today. Long outlawed in the United States, child labor is still a major issue throughout the world, particularly in poverty stricken regions where the lure of cheap, easily exploited children is often taken advantage of by employers while at the same time many children living in poverty tragically feel forced to work in order to contribute to their family’s wellbeing. Currently the UN International Labor Organization estimates that 165 Million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are involved in child labor practices throughout the world.

This year the focus of the annual event is on education as a route to reduce child labor and on gender equality between boys and girls. Countries throughout the world from Africa to Asia to South America to the Middle East to Europe and beyond are staging events to reduce the unfair exploitation of children.

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Just yesterday, I posted about Greensburg, Kansas being rebuilt into a model green community. I believe the words “the model green community” might have even been used. Well, Abu Dhabi caught me moving after it yelled red light and has sent me back to start. The nation that sits on 10% of the world’s oil reserve is building what has to be considered the model green city. Sorry, Greensburg, you got served.

The city will be known as Masdar City, and costs are anticipated to begin around $22 billion. However will they find the money?

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