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Why is Federico Fellini still globally discussed, analysed and revered by film lovers 16 years after his death? It was due to his passion and mastery of film exemplified in movies such as 'La Dolce Vita' and '8 1/2'.

Mini animation on the global state of Internet Censorship and thoughts on Stephen Conroy's plans for ISP filtering.

With the end of the 2009 Lavazza Italian Film Festival and the forthcoming 16th anniversary of master filmmaker Federico Fellini’s death (31st Oct), the time has come to ask what made his films so important to film history and why they consistently appear on many (Time, IMDB, Empire) all time ‘best films’ lists.

The main reason why Fellini is still revered so long after his death was that the man was a creative genius.

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At a time when Hollywood was making wonderful blockbuster epics such as ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (1962) and ‘The Great Escape’ (1963), Italian born Fellini made films such as ‘La Dolce Vita’ (1960) and ‘8 ½’ (1963) - some of his greatest films.

In anticipation of his next film, Fellini had a hard time coming up with a new concept and narrative, so he decided to make a film about just that – a filmmakers’ struggle.

‘8 ½’ is about a director (Fellini’s alter ego, ‘Guido’ played by Marcello Mastroianni) who has a creative block as he allows his fears and anxieties to overtake him. This then leads to a midlife crisis of sorts. From there ‘Guido’ enters a world of introspection, memory and fantasy.

This film is high on symbolism as most of Fellini’s movies are. He had a lifelong fascination with the circus, vaudeville characters and religion.

The insightful, often tragic portrayals of outcasts in society within his films, such as ‘Cabiria’, a prostitute who tries to find love from ‘Nights of Cabiria’ (1957) and ‘Gelsomina’ a girl who gets sold to a cruel circus owner from ‘La Strada’ (1954), are heartbreaking . Yet ultimately you are full of admiration for their strength, resolve and human spirit.

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Both of these characters were brilliantly played by Fellini’s wife, Giulietta Masina (who died a year after Fellini).

Fellini’s fascination with the circus and vaudeville began in his childhood in a small town named Rimini (Italy) where the travelling circus would come a

Who is Ardi?

'Ardi' (Ardipithecus ramidus) is a fossil that is 4.4million years old and was found in the early 1990's from the Afar Depression in the Middle Awash river valley of Ethiopia.

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After 17 years of studying Ardi and other nearby fossils researchers have now officially published the results in the Science journal.

Ardi is a million years older than our other infamous fossil- Lucy. We didn't really know much about that earlier stage of evolution until Ardi came along.

Whether Ardi is directly linked with our line of ancestry is yet to be determined, however she will most likely be related to us and can give us an insight into our evolutionary road.

Professor Tim White (University of California, Berkeley) who is one of the main scientists on this project says,
"This is not an ordinary fossil. It's not a chimp. It's not a human. It shows us what we used to be."
How Ardi is different from other fossils

Certain features of the fossil seem to be very similar to attributes found on extremely archaic apes, whilst other traits are likened to later human-like species.

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For example, Ardi could both walk like us and was an excellent scaler of trees like the apes. This, according to team member Prof. Owen Lovejoy (Kent State University, Ohio) was all thanks to Ardi's:
"opposable great toes and ... a pelvis that allows her to negotiate tree branches rather well. So half of her life is spent in the trees; she would have nested in trees and occasionally fed in trees, but when she was on the ground she walked upright pretty close to how you and I walk."
Ardi's upper pelvic bones were situated so that she could walk on two legs without staggering side to side like a chimp (possibly in order to be able to hold food for its' monogamous partner in return for sex).

Ardi could also climb trees due to the powerful muscles in her back legs supported by her ape-like lower pelvic bones.

Watch this video detailing the find (care of Associated Pre

The answer to that is – both.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) aims are to please the company’s stakeholders, improve its branding on a wider level and ultimately make more money, all via adhering to ethical/value based behaviours that are arguably beneficial to specific or broader societies.

All great and good if it benefits us while still making the companies a tidy sum. No problem at all. What a fantastic way to do business, dare I say, revolutionary?

It is revolutionary in the sense that the traditional ‘bottom line’ approach is now becoming the ‘triple bottom line’, where a sole fiscal focus has been replaced by a combined social, environmental and economic goal for the company.

You can’t argue with that, right?

To put it simply, yes and no.

It is a positive shift in the way business is done because corporations are now also recognizing that ethical behaviour will lead to more profit.

Many companies are trying to become more socially responsible, just look at most corporate websites and you will see their CSR campaigns prominently displayed.

Australia is ranked 9th in the world  for the Responsible Competitiveness Index (2007), not bad.

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However this conjures up mixed feelings as you become more aware that corporate social responsibility may also be (mis)used as public relations spin.
Multinationals such as Lipton, McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Shell and numerous others have CSR campaigns that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside initially, then following further investigation the blanket is pulled off and you’re left feeling cold and cynical.
For example, McDonalds CSR campaign is extensive and delivers page after page explaining how they put the values that they purport into practice.

In particular in their ‘Employment Experience’ section, they categorically state,

‘We respect the right of employees to associate or not to associate with any group, as permitted by and in accordance with applicable laws and regul

Gives you heaps of info on all things digital media related - also includes news updates on social media.

Found this on there - what an amazing kid!



Till next time...