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Bamseom Pirates Seoul Infernoby Jung Yoon-Suk (image courtesy M-Line Distribution)

The Last Waltz, Martin Scorseses quintessential concert film chronicling the last show of the 70s rock group The Band, begins with text declaring across the screen: This film should be played loud. In the decades following the 1976 classic, this advice found its way into the beginning of countless music films. Most recently, the spirit of the message traveled across the globe to South Korea in Jung Yoon-Suks documentary Bamseom Pirates Seoul Inferno (2017), the story of the college punk duo Bamseom Pirates and their struggles with government censorship. But the onscreen statement near the beginning of Jungs film skews in a more political direction, notifying the viewer, The sounds of the film were left unbalanced to help you experience the imbalances in Korean society. In the background, we hear the Pirates aggressive, discordant music.

As a bellwether of whats to come, the statement works twofold. First, it prepares the viewer for an on-the-ground look at the politics and class conflicts of contemporary South Korea. Second, like the rest of the movie, it presents an endlessly compelling subject in a clodding, inelegant manner.

The film, which is playing at the New York Asian Film Festival at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, revolves around the arrest of the bands producer and manager Park Junggeun. He is said to have violated the countrys nebulous National Security Laws after posting tweets that were seen as praising the enemy. These tweets, including Dear leader, please buy me some chocolate and Kim Jong-Il is Car Sex, show how vague and easily manipulable the laws are. The messages are shared on-screen in front of images of Park dressed in costumes goofing off with friends, making it even clearer that Park is joking. However, South Korean culture seems to treat any expression of dissent comical or not as aiding the enemy.

Watching the Pirates at work is a riveting experience. Sarcasm and irony infuse everything they do especially their lyrics. In some songs, they seemingly, wholeheartedly endorse North Korean Communists, with choruses like All Hail Kim Jong-Il! But we recognize this stance is a farce in moments where the band discusses its almost nonexistent politics. Having spent his young life firmly on the south side of the DMZ, the drummer of the band, Kwon Yung-man, admits at one point, Honestly I know almost nothing about North Korea. The musicians scream slogans praising their countrys enemies just to provoke the powers that be.

Despite efforts to mirror the bands slapdash aesthetic, the film unfortunately follows a fairly consistent formal structure that keeps it from being engaging. A protest ensues around the privatization of Seoul University and a Korea-US free trade agreement. Then the band Yung-man and bassist Jang Sung-geon performs at the protest, offering a set of their signature punk/metal fusion and nonsense banter. The handheld cinematography that fills most of the film is a visually unspectacular means of chronicling these happenings, and Kwons tendency to tell the camera exactly what the band is doing instead of simply showing it drags the story on.

More interesting is Jungs repurposing of newscasts that intrude on the bands story, giving cultural context for the society that yielded the Pirates. A story about a 1994 meeting between North and South Korean officials, where the Communist representative warns that his country can turn their countries into an inferno if provoked, offers context for the tense political climate on both sides of the DMZ; this anecdote also explains the origins for the name of the Pirates debut album Seoul Inferno, which is excerpted throughout the film. Later in the film, as Park is on-trial, Jung appropriates propaganda from the era, where in a staged conversation two men and two women discuss their thoughts on war with the north. One of them declares, If certain elements within the South cause turmoil when the North attacks, they will pay dearly for their mistakes. Jungs appropriation of this footage paints a vivid portrait of the social consensus allowing the crackdown on Park, which ends in a 10-month jail sentence and two years probation.

Following the delivery of the verdict, however, Bamseom Pirates Seoul Inferno fails to end on a note acknowledging this very emotional moment. The viewer is treated to shots of the pirates riding in cars through the city at night, a middle-aged man asleep on public transportation, and cats, as well as scenes of the band recording screams, moans, claps, belches, and the whir of power tools. The film suffers for not making a final statement regarding the censorship imposed on artists in South Korea. The fault lies with the filmmaker and not the artists, whose dadaist sensibilities are the reason to watch this documentary.

Bamseom Pirates Seoul Infernois playingat the New York Asian Film Festival at the Walter Reade Theater, Film Society of Lincoln Center (165 W 65th St, Upper West Side, Manhattan) on Tuesday, July 11.

Continued here:
A Korean Punk Band's Struggles with Censorship - Hyperallergic

The Bolshoi Ballet has denied bowing to a controversial Russian law banning "homosexual propaganda" after it cancelled a new production about Rudolf Nureyev three days before the premiere.

The long-anticipated production had been due to open on Tuesday but was called off at the weekend amid speculation that authorities had balked at its depiction of Nureyev's love life.

Vladimir Urin, the theater's director general, said on Monday that he had cancelled the ballet about the Soviet dancer-turned-defector because rehearsals showed it was not ready.

"The ballet was not good," he said, saying it had been postponed rather than cancelled and would open in May next year instead.

Earlier the Tass news agency cited a culture ministry source saying Vladimir Medinsky, Russia's minister of culture, cancelled the production because he feared it broke a controversial law banning the promotion of homosexuality to minors.

Mr Medinsky's ministry confirmed he had spoken to the director, but denied issuing a "ban."

"Yes there was a long conversation with Urin," Irina Kaznacheeva, a spokeswoman for the culture ministry said in a statement. "But a ban is the not the ministry's working style."

Rudolf Nuryev was one of the most celebrated ballet dancers of his generation. In 1961 he became was one of the first acclaimed Soviet artists to defect to the West, where he had successfulcareer - and a turbulent love life including a string of gay relationships - until his death in 1993.

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Bolshoi Ballet denies bowing to censorship over canceled Rudolf Nureyev show - Telegraph.co.uk

A water diversion system along Willow Waterhole is part of a broader $480 million effort.

Harris County is making progress on a local flood control project. Crews are now working on the last part of a storm water retention basin located off South Post Oak Road, one of many efforts in the Houston area to keep streets and homes from flooding.

You probably already know that flooding is a major problem in the city, but you might not realize just how easily it can happen.

When you get these intense, localized downpours, the street drains arent designed for much more than about two inches an hour, says Gary Zika, Federal Projects Manager for the Harris County Flood Control District.

Zika says about 700,000 people live in the Brays Bayou watershed. A $480 million project aims to keep water out of homes in the area with a series of interconnected channels and retention ponds.

In about a year, the Willow Waterhole part of that system will be complete.

Its nature and gravity, Zika says. Water gets to a certain level, it overflows into the detention basin, and then when the water in the bayou goes down, the detention basins drain out.

According to Zika, these detention systems can keep water levels in the bayous two or three feet lower during heavy rains, but he says they cant control every storm.

Even when we have our project done, youre still going to have street flooding, he says. If you have a storm event that dumps four or five inches in an hour, not only will you have street flooding, but youll also have house flooding, because the water cant even get into the bayous that fast.

Still, the projects have had some success. Zika says the county found that during the deadly Memorial Day flooding of 2015, the Willow Waterhole system kept water out of about 5,000 homes.

Continue reading here:
Brays Bayou Flood Control Project Moves Forward - Houston Public Media

This comes after two Afghan diplomats recently insulted government and made bold political statements on their Facebook pages.

Concerns have been raised over inappropriate social media posts by diplomats and officials who take to Facebook to lash out at government.

Two senior Afghan diplomats recently hit out at government and made bold political statements.

In one instance, Afghan Consul General in Vancouver, Canada, Mohammad Salem Wahdat slammed government for not executing terrorist backers and their sympathizers.

Wahdat also singled out the Ministry of Interior.

He said: Our soldiers should be able to defend their rights . if their voice is suffocated in the ministry of interior when corruption is at its peak, large-scale corruption will increase. This was in relation to allegations having been made that food for soldiers was not reaching them and that the quality was extremely poor.

Another diplomat, cultural attach of Afghanistan to Washington DC, Majeed Qarar, also used Facebook to hit out at government and to make political statements.

Qarar has in the past referred to some individuals and certain circles as gangsters and recently posted: Freedom of speech, civil activities and other decorative terminology is used by warlords to justify their defiance.

In another post, he said: "Pakistan is looking for new customers but Putin rejected their invitation." Below that he used a photograph of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Russian President Vladimir Putin - which made it look like Sharif was saying to Putin: Why not: We are ready to commit adultery forRussia. Don't worry about this.

When contacted for comment, Qarar said his Facebook posts were his personal views while Wahdat said his posts were not considered an issue in Afghanistan.

Qarar meanwhile said: A civil servant can express his views even about his employer; there is no legal restriction in this respect.

President Ashraf Ghanis spokesman Shahussain Murtazawi said government expected its officials to use social media responsibly.

Our expectation is that social media users, use social media positively and spread the message of peace, solidarity and friendship instead of spreading hate, said Murtazawi.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) also responded and said it would draw up a social media policy for its staff. MoFA officials also made it clear that officials may not use government equipment for personal reasons.

But legal experts have said diplomats are official representatives of their governments and therefore social media postings should be handled responsibly. They also said a clear social media policy should be implemented.

The views expressed by a government official represents the views of his government, especially diplomats who are the authorized representatives of their country abroad, said legal expert Wahid Farzayee.

Journalists and media rights activists also raised concerns and said they have long called for such a policy to be implemented.

Head of NAI (Organization Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan), Mujib Khalwatgar, said an amendment to Afghanistans media law includes an article on social media usage.

We hope that lawmakers in the national assembly will address the matter once the draft [law] is referred to parliament, he said.

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Calls Mount For More Control Over Social Media Postings - TOLOnews

The current governments approach looks eerily familiar.

By Joshua Kurlantzick for The Diplomat

July 11, 2017

The National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government in Myanmar has now been in office for more than a year, with Aung San Suu Kyi as de facto head of government. Suu Kyi certainly wields sizable influence. In fact, Suu Kyi has often been criticized, by commentators and members of her own party, for keeping too tight-fisted control of actions by the government, so much so that NLD members of parliament seemingly have little to do.

To be sure, on some policy areas, Suu Kyi does not have the level of control that leaders of other, more established democracies enjoy. The military remains an extraordinarily powerful actor in Myanmar, and one apparently capable of operating, in outlying areas at least, without even clearing policy through the Cabinet. The military retains its percentage of seats in parliament, essential control over its budget, and its strong resistance to any constitutional change. Proponents of constitutional change that might reduce the formal powers of the armed forces, like former NLD lawyer U Ko Ni, have been murdered.

Nonetheless, there are areas of policy over which Suu Kyi should enjoy significant influence, and freedom of the press is one of them. Suu Kyi was a longtime opposition leader, at a time (mostly) when Myanmars media was tightly controlled, the security forces regularly detained reporters, and state media outlets used their pages to mock and condemn her. She could use her bully pulpit to promote independent media, greater freedoms for journalists working throughout Myanmar, and an end to media monopolies. She could step in strongly if journalists were detained, and call for greater transparency in government transparency that might actually work in her favor, since a more vibrant Myanmar press could well expose abuses by the armed forces and, indirectly, apply pressure for constitutional change.

But Suu Kyi has not taken this approach. Instead, over the past year, press freedom in Myanmar seems to have regressed. In some respects, press freedom in Myanmar now seems more restrictive than it was in the final years of the former Thein Sein government. The Suu Kyi government has not tried to change existing laws that are major barriers to a free press. The Committee to Protect JournalistsShawn Crispin notes:

Chief among those laws is section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, a broad provision that carries potential three-year prison terms for cases of defamation over communications networks. While the law was used only occasionally against journalists under military rule, politicians, military officials, and even Buddhist monks are increasingly using it now to stifle online and social media criticism.

The Myanmar chapter of the PEN press freedom group has estimated that over 55 cases have been filed, under this law, just in the year since Suu Kyis government came into office. Meanwhile, late last month three journalists were arrested in Shan State, under a different Unlawful Association law. These reporters included one fromThe Irrawaddy; they had been covering one of the countrys ethnic insurgencies as well as allegations of abuses by the state security forces. The return of a climate of fear is very disturbing,wroteThe Irrawaddys editor-in-chief, Aung Zaw, after the publications reporter was arrested.

As with the rising toll of defamation cases, Suu Kyi has said nothing about the arrests in Shan State. A spokesperson for her partytold the New York Times, For media personnel, press freedom is a key need For us, peace, national development and economic development are the priority, and then democracy and human rights, including press freedom.

Meanwhile, Suu Kyis government has enacted other restrictions on press access. It has made it nearly impossible for journalists to cover parts of Rakhine State in the west. The Suu Kyi government also recentlyrefused to provide visasto UN investigators tasked with analyzing the situation in Rakhine State and allegations of abuse by Myanmar security forces in Rakhine State. In some ways, the Suu Kyi government is looking more and more like its predecessors.

Joshua Kurlantzick is senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). This originally appeared over at CFRs Asia Unbound here and is republished here with kind permission.

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Why Myanmar's Suu Kyi Has Failed on Media Freedom - The Diplomat