The Norway Action Film Festival held its premiere / Inaugural Year at the Stabekk Kino (Cinema/Theatre), Stabekk (near Oslo/Sandvika), Norway.
The event was first of many more to come, if the reception we received from the attendees was anything to go by. We have been asked to go back soon for a follow-up.
A really great, warm and supportive crowd, some of whom, being professional caterers, also supplied the wonderful food buffet. In particular the Philippine barbequed pork on skewers was a special treat, and gone within minutes, before many people even realized they were on the table.
Our presence was also graced by the Philippine ambassador to Norway and his wife, representatives from the local British Council and other national representatives.
Festival Venue
The theatre was ideal with scope for expansion and larger future events, being located on the outskirts of Oslo. In addition to good transport links, there were several local restaurants and café services just around the corner, including a good Sushi bar. Future events will likely include additional activities, such as on-site discussions/interviews and even workshops on some of the topics or arts presented.
The local scenery is also stunning as evidence by some of the photos in our discussion forum post and on the NAFF homepage.
Film Submissions & Screenings
The film collection was very broad and wide ranging, with something of interest for everyone's taste, and this was only in the first year still. Many of the films were short productions, so it was easy to take in several films in one session, adding to the interest of the event.
In addition to the selected film screenings, there was the awards presentation, accompanied by a couple of brief presentations on related topics of interest to further entertain the audience. You can watch a short video presentation of the NAFF awards 2022 on youtube, here below, or via the NAFF website where you will find even more information about the event, including information about any private screenings held.
Collaboration without Tears, Learning without Frontiers
SeTs was represented there also as part of the KEG Oy team that organised the event and even made some presentations / shows for the audience as part of the final awards ceremony. Rudy, a former dance student of StyleDanceIndustry (SDI ry) and professional chef, sang a song he himself had written.
SeTs, of course gave a live presentation all about martial arts and self-defense to compliment this Action Film Festival. As stated in the presentation, the show was not a demo of various martial art magic tricks, but intended to raise awareness, educate and make the audience think more critically about the kind of action scenes we see everyday in action movies, especially the popular mainstream movies. Thereby being better able and willing to filter our the less suitable garbage on behalf of, and for the sake of our kids, if not ourselves.
You can watch the SeTs presentation here...
The Social and Behavioural Influence of Film and Video
One of the biggest issues involved is the type of violent action and aggressive behaviour we are exposed to today, and especially our kids, all in the name of entertainment. Most of the film and cartoon makers of kids programmes, are clearly not trained in any of the arts, little or no experience of real life combat, conflict intervention and management, and even less so in education science and child development psychology. There also seems to be little or no counter-balance in terms of censorship / suitability selection, or, any other guidance provided to these 'entertainment' creators as to what is appropriate. The 'so called' age rating standards are very generic, inconsistent, and say nothing about the underlying messages being conveyed to our kids. This leaves it all up to the parents as a back stop, by which time the tidal wave/Tsunami has already slammed against the dyke/border control point and invariably overwhelms it, much like the use and abuse of smart phones by modern kids today.
You can read and discuss about the issues raised in our Discussion Forum...
Join in the discussion on the NAFF Post
The Role of Mobile & Digital Technology
Smart phones (SP) and Social Media (SoMe) have exacerbated this problem exponentially in recent years. Many video presenters I have seen are simply dumping their own hang-ups and 'chips on their shoulders' on the audience. Some seem to have rather darker undertones and agendas. The over use and abuse of smartphones is well recognised even if no one is or has been willing or able to do anything about it. Many parents have simply acquiesced to the convenience for the sake of 'home peace' here and now. Safe Family applications and systems seem to be only partially effective if at all, as kids are adept at bypassing the blocks or just adapting around them to continue using the phone for something else. Add to this is the cultural imposition and attitude of unqualified SoMe corporate giants without any social authority, telling parents at what age their children have unfettered rights to view whatever they like, regardless of parental consent, all in the name of acquiring viewers for their profit.
An old man said to his grandson, “Boy, I have two tigers caged within me. One is love and compassion. The other is fear and anger.” The young boy asked, “Which one will win, grandfather?” The old man replied, “The one I feed.”
Indian tale
The problem is further exacerbated by the ubiquitous use of personalization engines that keep feeding us more and more of what has already been viewed, This totally distorts all perspectives of reality and limits our awareness and options. This mechanism has already been abused for political and electoral influencing purposes, as clearly illustrated by the Cambridge Analytics scandal. A recent research project exposed the fact that personalised feeds change the ratio of political opinion posts seen/presented from roughly equal to several thousands against a few tens of opposing opinions and stories, most with unverified/unsubstantiaed 'fact' claims. Most 'independent' news media, as we all know of course, are anything but independent or unbiased, and some frequently spout propaganda and rhetoric surpassed only by 'Russia Today' Official state Tv channel, otherwise known as 'Redacted Téxt' (RT) in order to conceal their true identity and purpose from foreign viewers.
Despite all the good and connectivity aspects of smart phones, one can only Watch, Weep and Wonder at the potential social problems are accruing for the kids later years, as many become digi-junkies, unable to function without a SP. The inability to cope with silence and even periods of boredom without the continuous externa stimulus feed, has a great effect on ability to focus, concentrate and create. True creativity comes from stillness and calmness, which requires a transitional period of relative boredom to reach. It is also the reason Meditation practice needs and uses repetitive manual labour tasks as a way to calm/warm down after a period of activity (school/work) before attempting any meditation.
More pertinent still, is that without the calmness of mind, people become irritable, impatient, and intolerant with a greater proclivity towards aggression and violence as a reaction to social conflicts and other problems. Conversely many become more lethargic and apathetic, being too lazy to go knock on a friends door to come out and play. Instead they sit at home in a room reclusively, chatting with their friends by phone instead, which means missing out on a great deal of social interaction and communication skills experience (e.g. body language) and development. Aside from general lack of maturity, social and mentally, this can lead to various health and wellbeing problems in later years. As parents and educators, it is part of our responsibility to help develop these adult traits in our children, not feed the childish primal urges.
It is interesting to note that boys have a tendency to react to social problems and the 'tensions of life' by becoming wilder (social disorder/delinquent) and taking greater risks in their activities, whilst girls tend to withdraw and become more prone to self-destructive behaviour, including drug abuse. There always exceptions to these tendencies however that depend greatly on personal disposition, physical strength/confidence, and family support and environment. The sad fate of a 14 year old girl in the UK should be a reminder to us all of our vulnerability in these respects no matter how hard we try to stem the flow of negative influences. The girl reportedly found posts and videos of people harming themselves and even committing suicide. 'Personalization Engines' of Social media ensured that she was continuously fed with a deluge of such material and messaging with the community to which she became engrossed if not obsessed. This led to depression and her eventual suicide. Her father fought for five years to bring the social media giants to court over their complicity in these sad events.
Basically, our kids are being/have been turned into passive consumers, sheep and fodder for the profit of the creators of those phones and entertainment apps. These people, incidentally, have in recent years reputedly , themselves realized the problem and started removing devices from their kids and instead sending them out into the forest to get back in touch with themselves and nature. This can be very 'Grounding' and usually is a highly cathartic experience that most humans greatly need on a regular basis for the sake of their nerves (stress and anxiety management) and mental health.
"Censorship is like telling a man he can't have steak just because a baby can't chew it"
Mark Twain
Censorship: A sword that Cuts Both Ways
Like any tool, the sword cuts both ways, so whether it works for good or bad depends entirely on the wielder. There is no doubt however, that we could all use a little help in this department so that we can more reliably find and select suitable films and entertainments for our kids. Social media allows anyone to post anything they want, without restriction or verification of the veracity of their claims and opinions. Well established academic rigors and requirements for providing evidence and references to verify claimed facts are non-existent. Most blog articles, films and film documentaries are not an education or educational in themselves. They cannot and should not be used in that way. They are however, informational about 1 person/groups unvalidated opinions and perspectives, to which extent they can be used as 'Food for Thought', subject to further factual analysis and assessment in conjunction with other opinions and evidence to the contrary. This is why the requirements of academic study are so rigorous, and hence a bit of a quagmire for the untrained general public. Whilst nobody is advocating such exacting standards for the general public, a bit more discipline coupled with some down to earth guidance and training as part of a 'Life Skills for Life' general education programme would seem highly advisable.
Main stream news media also struggled for several years with the advent of social media, quite unsure what their role and place in the brave new world is. The emergence of 'Fake News' and automatic posting software called BOTS, has prompted them to position themselves as the champions of truth based on evidence and fact finding, yet, despite most being independent broadcasters - a central tenet of western democracy - most still have trouble shaking off the accusation of being governmental puppets. Whilst social media provides very quick/fast news flashes and updates from anywhere in the world, there is no filtering system as to the credibility of the source or the reliability of the content. This responsibility is now firmly in the lap of an inadequately prepared and educated global public.
Professional film critics and other authorities seem to be regularly out of touch with the rest of society, the people/consumers, and almost always behind the times. They are a small minority of people that are hardly representative of the majority. This is the reason why start-up businesses such as KEG Oy, with whom SeTs (Specialist Education & Training Services ry), SDI (StyleDanceIndustry ry) and other organizations are collaborating, in a project to build their own system to democratize the ratings and rankings process, whilst at the same time guiding and educating people to make better informed rational choices within a professionally design viewing and rating system. The SeTs chairman is also a member of the board at KEG Oy and member of SDI ry team for film festivals.
An Independent Rating & Ranking Platform for Independent Film Makers & Audiences
The FilmVIA system has the potential to go well beyond the usual benefits of a 'Thumbs' up or down feedback system, whilst also helping and supporting Independent Film Makers and other non-mainstream movies/films through this system and their network of film festivals around the world. For example, the potential educational aspects go well beyond simple democratization of film ratings and rankings. Combined with educational guides about how to rate and rank intelligently, SeTs and others are developing complimentary courses, such as SeTs own source and content evaluation skills course in order to further empower the general public.
And this is just the beginning!
Upcoming film festivals...
October 2022: Helsinki Education Film Festival International (HEFFI), Held in Helsinki, Finland is already three years old and growing rapidly in popularity and prestige.
November 2022: Divulge Dancers Film Festival (DF2) in Hollywood, USA, is one of the first festivals created and well established being several years old already.
November 2022: SMUSH is a dance show and film film festival held as a collaborative project with the DF2 festival. This is a 'Top Gun' dancers show, the best of the best!
January 2023: Espoo Digi Dance International (EDDI) held in Espoo, Finland is in its second year and also growing very fast in popularity.
May 2023: Florence Romance International Film Festival (FRIFF) held in Florence, Italy just completed its first inaugural year and is already preparing for next years festival.
August 2023: Norway Action Film Festival (NAFF), held in or near Oslo, Norway.
Whether you are just interested in watching interesting and quality films, looking for good quality and enlightened training in Fitness, self-defense training, Parkour, street dance, or , or even perhaps, you are interested in becoming an investor in this project...
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