In 2008, TED won 3 Webby Awards. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for another clean sweep …

In 2008, TED was nominated for and won 3 Webby Awards. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for another clean sweep.

Browse the Anthems playlist on Pangea Day’s YouTube channel for more.

[The researchers] surveyed 180 Bosnian Muslims about their attitudes towards Bosnian Serbs in the wake of the earlier conflict. They found that Bosnian Muslims who had more Serb friends and who identified more with a sense of being “Bosnian,” rather than “Bosnian Muslim” or “Bosniak,” also tended to show more empathy for Serbs as a group, to be more trusting of Serbs, and to see Serbs as more varied — all of which predicted greater levels of forgiveness and more positive attitudes towards the Serbs.

This pattern is consistent with what’s known as the “contact hypothesis” in social psychology, which states that more high quality contact between groups promotes intergroup reconciliation.

A pertinent find in the weeks following Pangea Day — and the beginning of new initiatives by other TEDPrize winners.

(Photo credit: Marla Aufmuth)

Watch Rokia Traore’s talk on TED.com, where you can rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.

Get TED delivered:
Subscribe to the TEDTalks video podcast via RSS >>
Subscribe to the iTunes video podcast
Subscribe to the iTunes audio podcast
Get updates via Twitter >>
Join our Facebook fan page >>

Subscribe to the TED Blog >>

Audience at Mumbai:

From the audience in LA taking a picture:

Photo: Marla Aufmuth

Hypernova performing in LA:

Photo: Marla Aufmuth

Jonathan Harris in L.A.:

Photo: Marla Aufmuth

Audience in L.A.:

A crowd shot at Rio:

Rokia Traore performing in London:

The crowd outside Somerset House, London:

The crowd in Kigali laughing with Dr. Kataria:

Drummers in Kigali:

Dancers in Kigali:

So after weeks of plotting, scheming and ceaseless fretting, our Friends of Pangea Day event in Shanghai has gone off without a hitch. For those unfamiliar with the situation, a brief explanation: the Chinese government has launched a serious crackdown on cultural events in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics. Case in point: two weeks ago, exactly one week before the event was scheduled to begin, the government announced that it was cancelling China’s largest music festival this year. The ‘official’ reason? Local police would not be able to provide adequate security for the event. The real reason? Government anxiety surrounding current pro-Tibet sentiments worldwide.

As such, putting on a film event in China — especially as the content was not known beforehand — is tricky business. No venues would touch it (we finally got an artists’ warehouse in an industrial zone in south Shanghai), trying to figure out how to get a secure internet connection caused many sleepless nights (The Panopticon’s Great Firewall is the bane of our existence), we had to keep our events out of Chinese media (we told all Chinese journalists it was a private event to cover ourselves and make sure there were no repercussions after), and we had plans b, c, d, e and f in place for the 4-hour broadcast. We tried rerouting our connection through the US, were considering a Hong Kong option as well; had dealt with StarWorld Asia (a Pangea Day broadcaster in Asia) but with little luck; had techies in Vancouver helping us out; had Slipbox hook-ups in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal — basically, everything we could think of. Last minute (two hours before the global broadcast started), we got an illegal satellite connection to the Philippines, with a link to StarWorld. Praise be.

So yeah, it’s been a ride. We have learned more about computers than we could have ever imagined learning in a three-day period, but the result was worth it. We held an 8-hour marathon showcasing local filmmakers — there is no forum for Chinese filmmakers to show their work here, due to government regulation, as such we felt this was especially important — prior to the 4-hour broadcast we’re all seeing now. In total, we’ve got a 12-hour marathon. We’ve had roughly 1000 people come through our dingy little warehouse space, and we’re loving being able to participate in the global phenomenon.

So cheers from Shanghai — despite all the barriers, we’re seeing Pangea Day, along with all of you, in China.

Two very exhausted, but very relieved, organizers,
Panthea Lee and Dan Shemie

(Above: Scenes from the filmmakers’ reception Thursday night in Los Angeles. We were asked: “Raise your hand if you came from outside the United States to be here.”)

Last night in Los Angeles, Participant Productions honored 5 films from around the world by giving their filmmakers $5,000 grants. The grants are awarded by Participant, makers of Charlie Wilson’s War and the new Standard Operating Procedure and other amazing films, as part of its Outstanding Filmmakers Awards Program. Learn more about the 5 grant winners — each film links to a page on PangeaDay.org >>

From Africa, DEAR MANDELA (documentary) by Dara Kell and Christopher Nizza (South Africa)

From Asia/Australia, I REMEMBER LEBANON (documentary) by Zeina Aboul Hosn (Lebanon)

From Europe, MY MOTHER’S DAUGHTER (documentary) by Saleyha Ashan (UK); pictured left.

From North America, MOVING WINDMILLS (documentary) by Ari Kushnir (US)

From South America, PAPIROFLEXIA (animated) by Joaquin Baldwin (Paraguay)