Jonah: A big fish story told with visual flair by TED Fellow Kibwe TavaresTwo best friends inadvertently turn their hometown in Zanzibar into a tourist attraction, in this short film directed by TED Fellow Kibwe Tavares. How did they do it? By taking a chance photograph of a gigantic fish — far bigger than a human being — leaping out of the nearby water. The film, called Jonah, […]
A Scrabble board of TED FellowsWhile the majority of the TED Fellows headed to TED2013 to give talks on their incredible work, a smaller group headed to TEDActive, representing the program while embedded in the Palm Springs action. Artist Colleen Flanigan was among them, and created this adorable, Scrabble-themed animation to represent the Fellows there with her. Here’s what she […]
Jehane Noujaim’s “The Square” premieres at the Sundance Film FestivalOn January 25, 2011, nearly 50,000 Egyptians took to the streets, occupying Tahrir Square. One of their most powerful weapons: cameras, both still and video, to share their story with the rest of the world. However, many of these cameras were captured during violent clashes. Filmmaker Jehane Noujaim — who won the TED Prize in […]
How to pick the right movies to share with kids: Some tips and thoughts from Colin StokesColin Stokes’ favorite part of being a dad is sharing movies with his two young children. While his daughter’s favorite is The Wizard of Oz, his son quickly became obsessed with Star Wars after catching a glimpse of the movie at age three. “It imprinted on him like a mommy duck does on its duckling,” […]
The Oscars Best Picture field contains two TEDstersWhen the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the contenders for Best Picture this morning, we noticed two familiar faces in the field. We were pleased to see the stylish thriller Argo among the nominees, as director Ben Affleck shared with us the “8 TED Talks that amazed me” in the fall. We […]
9 talks about the making of movie magic“Movies have proved to be the ultimate medium for magic,” says Don Levy in today’s talk. A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and former senior vice president of marketing and communications at Sony Pictures, Levy has always been fascinated by the sleights of hand that filmmakers use to create illusions. […]
This morning at the Mozilla Festival in the UK, Mozilla launched their new web tool Popcorn Maker. (A beta version of Popcorn Maker debuted here on the TED Blog a couple weeks ago.) With Popcorn Maker, you can choose a YouTube video and add notes, live links, Twitter feeds, photos, links out to Wikipedia … […]
Multi-instrumentalist, composer, artist and filmmaker Usman Riaz started recording his debut album, Circus in the Sky, at 18, shaking up the music scene in Pakistan. Then he rocked the TEDGlobal 2012 stage with a world-class performance on percussive guitar, alongside his hero, Preston Reed. Now he’s poised to make a global ruckus. You’ve accomplished a […]
Visit the Barefoot College in a new film from TED Prize winner Jehane NoujaimIn 2006, filmmaker Jehane Noujaim made her TED Prize wish: that for one day, the world would band together for the shared experience of watching film. “As the world is getting smaller,” she said onstage, “it becomes more and more important that we learn each other’s dance moves, that we meet each other, that we get to know each other, […]
How do we search for alien life if it’s nothing like the life that we know? At TEDxUIUC Christoph Adami shows how he uses his research into artificial life — self-replicating computer programs — to find a signature, a ‘biomarker,’ that is free of our preconceptions of what life is. (Recorded at TEDxUIUC, July 2011, in […]
Jarreth Merz, a Swiss-Ghanaian filmmaker, came to Ghana in 2008 to film the national elections. What he saw there taught him new lessons about democracy — and about himself. (Recorded at TEDGlobal 2011, July 2011, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Duration: 8:37.) Watch Jarreth Merz’s talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on […]
Some kids learn by listening; others learn by doing. Geoff Mulgan gives a short introduction to the Studio School, a new kind of school in the UK where small teams of kids learn by working on projects that are, as Mulgan puts it, “for real.” (Recorded at TEDGlobal 2011, July 2011, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Duration: […]
Studies show that sketching and doodling improve our comprehension — and our creative thinking. So why do we still feel embarrassed when we’re caught doodling in a meeting? Sunni Brown says: Doodlers, unite! She makes the case for unlocking your brain via pad and pen. (Recorded at TED2011, March 2011, in Long Beach, California. Duration: […]
HIV is a serious problem in the DR Congo, and aid agencies have flooded the country with free and cheap condoms. But few people are using them. Why? “Reformed marketer” Amy Lockwood offers a surprising answer that upends a traditional model of philanthropy. (Some NSFW images.) (Recorded at TEDGlobal 2011, July 2011, in Edinburgh, Scotland. […]
In 2003, the Palestinian village of Budrus mounted a 10-month-long nonviolent protest to stop a barrier being built across their olive groves. Did you hear about it? Didn’t think so. Brazilian filmmaker Julia Bacha asks why we only pay attention to violence in the Israel-Palestine conflict — and not to the nonviolent leaders who may […]
