Russell Michaels dropped me a note to let me know that Hacking Democracy is now available on DVD. This documentary scares me. It scares me to think that freedoms we take for granted can be so easily be subjugated to a company (and their backers).
Today, I watched Bangkok Girl. I wonder if the CBC will sell a collection of documentaries to viewers. I would love to share this with others (sure I have a 640×480 MPEG-4 encoded copy thanks to the TiVO), but respect the efforts of Jordan Clark in producing this compelling piece of media. HBO, PBS and others recognize the power of the DVD market. It looks like Bangkok Girl is available at Amazon.ca. Maybe it’s not a CBC thing. It looks like Bangkok Girl is available through Moving Images.
Jordan Clark’s tragic documentary provides a glimpse into Thailand’s notorious and booming sex tourism industry through the experiences of a 19-year-old bar girl named Pla. Working in the bars from the age of thirteen, Pla has managed to avoid selling her body—a remarkable revelation given her surroundings—but her refusal to take part in this all-too-common profession for young Thai women cannot last. The introduction of falangs, or foreigners, to Thailand has forever changed the city, the economy, the Thai people’s lives and desires. A daring and unabashed look at a popular Western predilection through the eyes of one girl, this film challenges the accepted worldwide practice of sex tourism.
I need to think about attending Hot Docs next year.