Saturday, April 20, 2013

In the U.S.? Watch Alias Ruby Blade Online - One week only!

Alias Ruby Blade: A Story of Love and Revolution tells the tale of Kirsty Sword Gusmao as a young Australian activist who adopts the alias Ruby Blade while working for the underground Timorese resistance in Indonesia. It is currently showing during the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC.

You will need to create a Tribeca account and log in you can watch three Tribeca Film Festival  2013 feature films and four short films.

Then go to 
http://www.tribecafilm.com/online/competitions/film/513238201c7d76a6bb000084-alias-ruby-blade-a-story- . 

All films expire at 11:59 pm on April 28.
Please note: All TFF features and shorts are restricted to viewers in the United States only.


SYNOPSIS of Alias Ruby Blade


Veteran documentary editor and producer Alex Meillier takes a turn in the director’s chair to tell the remarkable story of documentarian-turned-activist Kirsty Sword Gusmão. Beginning with only a simple curiosity in the islands to the north of her native Australia, she becomes a forceful advocate for the tiny nation of Timor-Leste and a lynchpin in its harrowing, decade-long struggle for independence. Meillier turns Gusmão and her team’s firsthand footage of the revolution into an insider’s guide to the personalities and secret networks that kept it alive. Along the way, we meet the charismatic leader of the resistance, Xanana, whose relationship with Kirsty would redefine the cause for which they both were fighting. 

Alias Ruby Blade is an engaging portrait of a revolution with deep resonance in the events of the Arab Spring. By focusing his film on the movement’s most unlikely member, who in turn becomes one of its most indispensable agents, Meillier gives a personal edge to the individual sacrifices and courage needed to create a new democracy in modern times.  ­Arthur Ryel-Lindsey for Tribeca Film Festival


2012 | 78 minutes | Documentary Feature

For details about upcoming showings in the New York-area at the Tribeca Film Festival and Montclair Film Festival go to http://etanaction.blogspot.com/2013/04/nyc-showings-of-alias-ruby-blade-story.html


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Copies of Kirsty Sword Gusmao's book, Woman of Independence, are available from ETAN. http://etan.org/resource/books.htm#B47Copies of Kirsty Sword Gusmao's book, Woman of Independence, are available from ETAN. http://etan.org/resource/books.htm#B47



Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Nobody forgotten! Papuan Behind Bars

Papuans Behind Bars just launched. This valuable online resource "aims to raise awareness about West Papuan political prisoners so that nobody is forgotten." The project is an initiative of the Civil Society Coalition to Uphold Law and Human Rights in Papua. 

"The site seeks to provide accurate and transparent data, published in English and Indonesian, to promote debate, campaigning and policy change in support of increasing democratic space in West Papua.
"It includes comprehensive lists of current prisoners and former prisoners as well as monthly Updates on arrests, releases and trials. Detailed profiles of individual prisoners can be obtained by clicking on their entry in the prisoner lists or on their photo wherever it appears on the site."
Papuans Behind Bars also contains useful links and action suggestions for those inside and outside Indonesia.