As the Western world strays more and more from Freudian therapy, China discovers his method and psychotherapy process. This Washington Post article echoes one of our films, Oedipus in China, about the recent rise of psychotherapy in a society where personal feelings should not be discussed.

Labels: Asia, oedipus in china, psychology, psychotherapy

Paul Krugman, professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University and Nobel Prize in Economics, makes a convincing case for the European economic and social model in The New York Times, opposing the conservatives' view that the old continent is not competitive and has lost its economic dynamism. Read his column here.

With America's version of capitalism seemingly heading for bankruptcy, is there a crisis-proof economic model that can shape the 21st century?

In THE WORLD'S NEXT SUPERMODEL, three prominent thinkers argue for competing economic models, including Europe, Asia and Brazil. The proposals for these models are discussed by expert "judges," in a lively debate, examining them on the basis of issues such as social stability, environmental sustainability, government and market relationship, and their crisis-proof nature.

Labels: Asia, Brazil, economics, Europe, macro-economy, Paul Krugman, world affairs

On March 10^th, in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, 50 Buddhist monks were arrested by police for organizing a peaceful protest against the religious restrictions applied by the Chinese government. Other protests took place the following days, but on March 14^th, what started out as another demonstration in a market place ended in a deadly riot with shops getting ransacked, cars set on fire and at least 10 people killed, as reported by the New York Times. The causes of this violent outcome are still unclear, sources mention that police started beating up the monks thus enraging the Tibetan population, but Chinese authorities have dismissed these claims. This is the largest Tibetan protest against Chinese rule since 1989.

Luc Schaedler’s film, ANGRY MONK, examines the life and work of Gendun Choephel (1903-1951) a legendary figure in Tibet. Choephel was believed to be the reincarnation of a famous Buddhist lama but he eventually turned his back on monastic life and became a fierce critic of his country's religious conservatism, cultural isolationism and reactionary government.

Labels: Asia, Buddhism, human rights, Tibet

Labels: activism, articles, Asia, Chris Marker, international relations, Japan

The NY Times reports that the militarization of Japan is continuing with recent practice bombing of a tiny island in the Pacific. Japan's pacifist constitution bans offensive military action but slowly the country's leadership has turned the tides of public opinion. JAPAN'S PEACE CONSTITUTION explores in depth the political maneuvering that continues.

The article also notes that while the rearming of the country might be understandable given current potential threats, it is "causing anxieties in a region where distrust of Japan has deepened in direct proportion to Japanese tendencies to revise the past," including the massacre of China's capital, Nanjing in 1937, and its wartime sexual slavery. SENSO DAUGHTERS is made by a Japanese filmmaker who reveals this history through eyewitness testimony, which stands in stark contrast to the Japanese denial.

Labels: Article 9, Asia, comfort women, Japan, politics, Shinzo Abe