Reporters without Borders has issued the annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2008, Iceland, Luxembourg and Norway came on the top of the list, followed by Estonia in the 4th place, Finland and Ireland ranked 5th, while Belgium came in 7th place. In the Arab world, Kuwait came 61 worldwide and was on top of Arab countries, followed by Lebanon 66, UAE 69, Qatar 74, and Bahrain 96.
Arab countries in Press Freedom Index 2008:
61. Kuwait
66. Lebanon
69. United Arab Emirates
74. Qatar
96. Bahrain
105. Mauritania
121. Algeria
122. Morocco
123. Oman
128. Jordan
134. Djibouti
135. Sudan
143. Tunisia
146. Egypt
153. Somalia
155. Yemen
158. Iraq
159. Syria
160. Libya
161. Saudi Arabia
163. Palestinian Territories
Interesting tribute song for David Ogilvy, known as “The Father of Advertising”, and as the Time magazine called him in 1962: “The most sought-after wizard in today’s advertising industry.” I found this video clip on ads2blog.com, some people say it could be a joke or something, I tried to find out more, but I guess it was created by the staff at Ogilvy in Athens on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Ogilvy & Mather. The guy is an amazing advertising guru, and he deserves to be respected and honored.
The Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF) faced some criticism for totally ignoring the Arabic language, the Syrian actor Abed Fahed lead the criticism, and I agree with him, yes English is the universal language, but you can’t totally ignore Arabic, have an Arabic interface for the website, circulate an Arabic schedule beside the English one, translate the speeches since you are doing it an Arab country. According to Fahed, Cannes Festival runs in French, Berlin Festival is in German, and so on, which means Arabic should be an integral part of this festival.
Anyways, some numbers, and the list of winners:
The awards were the culmination of ten action-packed days of cinema, with 152 movies and 186 screenings shown in five Abu Dhabi venues. A total of 76 feature films and 34 short films from over 35 countries competed for the MEIFF 2008 Black Pearl Awards.
Winners of the US$1 million MEIFF 2008 Black Pearl Awards were announced at the festival’s closing night ceremony, directed and choreographed by Otis Sallid.
MEIFF 2008 Black Pearl Award Winners:-
The Black Pearl for Best Narrative Film - $200,000 Disgrace | Director: Steve Jacobs. Producers: Anna Maria Monticelli, Emile Sherman, Steve Jacobs
The Black Pearl for Best Documentary – $150,000 Stranded | Director: Gonzalo Arijon. Producer: Marc Silvera
The Black Pearl Special Jury Prize- $125,000 Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love | Director and Producer: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
The Black Pearl for Best Actress - $75,000 Fawzia: A Special Blend | Actress: Ilham Shaheen
The Black Pearl for Best Actor - $75,000 Wild Blood | Actor: Luca Zingaretti
The Black Pearl for Best Artistic Contribution - $75,000 Laila’s Birthday | Screenwriter: Rashid Masharawi
The Black Pearl Audience Choice Award Saving Luna | Co-Directors: Suzanne Chisholm & Michael Parfit. Producer: Suzanne Chisholm
The Black Pearl for Best Narrative - Short Film- $75,000 The View | Co-Directors: Hazim Bitar & Rifqi Assaf. Producer: Amman Filmmaker Cooperative
The Black Pearl for Best Documentary – Short Film- $75,000 Breadmakers | Director: Yasmin Fedda. Producers: Jim Hickey & Robin Mitchell
The Black Pearl for Best Animation- Shot Film- $75,000 Jacinta | Director: Karla Casteneda. Producer: Luis Tellez
Best Advertisement – Cultural Category - $25,000 Anti Slavery | Director: Eric Lynne. Producer: Partizan Films – Midi Minuit
Best Advertisement – Consumer Category - $25,000 Battle | Director: Traktor. Producer: Partizan Films – Midi Minuit
Best Advertisement – Artistic Contribution - $25,000 Great Pretender | Director: Patrick Bergh. Producer: Partizan Films – Midi Minuit
The Black Pearl for Best Narrative – Student Films – $25,000 Illusion | Director: Burhan Qurbani. Producer: Fabian Gasmia
The Black Pearl for Best Emerging Filmmaker – Student Films- $25,000 Lullaby | Director: Serena Abi Aad. Producer: IESAV
The Black Pearl for Best Animation – Student Films – $25,000 Adherent | Director: Julian Nazario Vargas. Producer: Rube Baggerud
CSR, a new trend in the corporate world, at least new to the Arab world, it’s when companies feel responsible to communities they operate in, but how sincere they are? Is it a matter of having a good PR?
Corporates are all about revenues, generating as much money as possible, no matter how. So it’s pretty interesting when see this greedy monster trying to give back to the community, but personally I think instead of giving back, try to be less-greedy, reduce the damage you cause as much as possible. However every initiative is much appreciated, but if it’s not sincere, if it’s not serious, then it’s just another bullshit coming from a company that sucks the hell out of people and environment.
Corporates damage varies depending on the nature of the business, for a property developer like Nakheel, environment is the biggest victim, Nakheel has caused a huge damage to the marine life in Dubai with the man-made islands in the Palm and the World projects, on the short term, damage made to the environment is not really observable, but on the long term, it is. However this is the core of their business, and you can’t expect them to stop it. During the Holy month of Ramadan, Nakheel launched an initiative to support efforts to secure drinkable water in few parts of the world, for every participation from an individual, they’ll donate 100 AED, and according to their website, the total donated money was AED10 million, that’s like $3 million, which if is really used to secure drinkable water for thirsty people, would be more important, on the short term, than saving the marine life.
Aramex is pretty active on CSR, I met their Chief Sustainability & Compliance Officer (CSO) a while back, I guess few companies in the Middle East have such a position, I remember that he mentioned that Aramex donates 1% of its annual profits to support its CSR initiatives, which is very good, imagine if every corporate in the world annually donated money to make this world a better one. Now Aramex has established some sort of an organization in one of Amman’s poor neighborhoods, in which they support the community there to live a better future, I didn’t have the chance to actually go and see, but they seem to be serious about it. Aramex’s business is not very damaging to the environment, it’s a courier company, the damage they cause comes from plastic packages and smoke that comes form the exhaust of their cars while delivering couriers, and as far as I know they have added a fleet of eco-friendly vehicles to their operations, and recently they’ve announced a new line of pouches, an eco-friendly one.
Speaking on eco-friendly packaging, Carrefour offers eco-friendly shopping bags, in attempts to change people’s perception on environment, yes this stupid small plastic bag needs more than 100 years to break down. I remember reading somewhere that the government of Dubai is considering replacing plastic bags used throughout the city with eco-friendly ones. Dubai is a great example when it comes to charity initiatives on the global level, HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum has launched several amazing initiatives such as Dubai Cares, and Noor Dubai, ambitious plans to make a difference in the world. In Jordan, HM Queen Rania has launched several interesting initiatives such as Al-Aman Fund and Madrasty. I’m sure there are many similar initiatives, which is really appreciated.
Companies like Real Estate developers, telecommunication, fashion, cosmetics, banking and finance, sports, entertainment etc. should contribute more, their annual revenues can help in solving problems of this planet. I guess their should be some sort of a global law that pledges corporates to donate parts of their annual revenues for charity causes. when you look at a football player, or a cinema star earning millions and millions of dollars every year, this is excessive, when would they need all that money for? Eventually they’ll die and leave it some dog, or for a greedy relative. Suppose that you have 100 million dollars, let’s say you donated 1 million a year, that’s 50 millions in 50 years, you still have 50 to enjoy your life with, I mean it’s not a race.
Corporates should allocate parts of their annual marketing budgets to CSR, or even allocating separate budgets for charity, it creates some buzz, especially when it’s sincere and serious, I guess if a company built houses for poor people, neither these people or the government would refuse adding something that refers to this generous initiative, it would make a good branding opportunity for that company. When you contribute, people will talk, people will create buzz, it’s a win-win situation.
Eventually we say charity shouldn’t be forced, it should be genuine, but think of the happiness you can cause when you treat a poor patient, or send some kid to college to be able to build a future for a entire family, think of the relief of a starving family when you feed them. I said it before, humans are the worst creature on this earth, if they weren’t, life would be much much better.
Such a scene is really a shame on humanity, this is a starving Sudanese child, who was unable to crawl to the nearest camp, the bird watching him eats only dead bodies, so the bird was waiting for the child to die of starvation to get a meal, the guy who took this shot went through a serious depression, that eventually led him to commit suicide after 2 months. When you look at someone like a wealthy Paris Hilton trying to live a simple life, when you look at fashion shows, when you hear that a movie generated millions of dollars in one week, you won’t imagine such a scene.
CSR, a new trend in the corporate world, at least new to the Arab world, it’s when companies feel responsible to communities they operate in, but how sincere they are? Is it a matter of having a good PR?
