Old Relevance: Letter from the Editor

"Welcome to your world...
George Bernard Shaw
said:
While Shaw's comments seem to sum up the mentality inherent in the industrial revolution of his days, that revolution has led us to an environmental revolt. Whether or not this revolution is labeled the Environmental Revolution or the Ecological Revolution, the time has come at which all progress must be obtained in deference to the globe, regardless of whether or not the man (or woman) responsible is reasonable, rational, rhetorical or real.
Filmmakers, and those in the entertainment media generally, are often labeled as bleeding heart liberals — and, while all sorts of people and politics are most definitely represented on our screens year ’round, a case could possibly be made for independent fare oozing a little more to the left and, well, films like *Rocky* and *Rambo* (sorry, Sylvester), swaying a touch to the right.
The truth is, the most regarded opinions and remarks are those written biggest and screamed through the loudest technology. All evidence suggests it takes energy and anger to bring change, and it seems the angriest and most energetic exist only on the platforms of the polarized.
While the world worries us with its unpredictable environmental behavior, its people also persist with politics of perish and peril.
Maybe Earth’s moderates need to get angry.
In what is our GLOBAL ISSUE, we've taken steps to identify those who help make your films account to their environment. We've notes on the eco-disaster horror films of yesteryear (do they now seem like best-case scenarios?), on how war affects those at home as well as those abroad, how film can unite a universe nation by nation, how music can inspire, and how one man can make a change by calling on the media of movies to send out the messages of Thoreau, who himself remarked, "What's the use of a fine house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?"
With the world’s film financiers in town for the always growing American Film Market, and the world’s filmmakers in town for the AFI Fest, this just may be the time and place for media-makers to make their mark.
If the words in our pages provoke you to thought, share with us — we’d love to welcome your words to our pages.
See you at AFM/AFI, the Bahamas, Borders, Barnes & Noble or anywhere else you get your Moving Pics fix.
With a healthy dose of understanding…
Elliot V. Kotek, Editor-in-Chief



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