11 May 2008
Pangea Day and the Filipina Behind It
Pan - entire; Gaea - also spelled as gaia - meaning earth. Pangea Day, literally Entire Earth Day.
This is not about the Earth Day celebrated some weeks back (though I’m all for that too) where we turned off our lights for one hour. This is about a dream come true about a dream. A dream shared by everyone on earth.
Her dream: World Peace, like you, me and the beauty pageant contestant. It is really our desire, right. But we ask ourselves “But what can one person do?” I think she asked the same question and she came up with a first step: To meet together. I agree.
From Pangeaday.org
In 2006, filmmaker Jehane Noujaim won the TED Prize, an annual award granted at the TED Conference. She was granted $100,000, and more important, a wish to change the world. Her wish was to create a day in which the world came together through film. Pangea Day grew out of that wish. Watch Jehane Noujaim’s 2006 acceptance speech now.
Pangea Day, the day the world comes together through film.
Pangea Day is over and many Asian countries, including the Philippines, as Technogra.ph blogged, missed the four-hour event because of the time difference. Though we didn’t get to participate actively, it was just the beginning. There is still a lot to do.
Am just wondering if any Filipino film maker submitted, or any Filipino was part of any film or organizing the event, or if there was a Philippine representative in any of the seven cities where the event was. It would be great to hear (or read) first hand info with a Pinoy perspective.
If it’s any consolation, we could trace Pangea Day to a Filipina who had an influence on Jehane. In her 2006 TED talk, she mentions a certain exchange student named Donna from the Philippines.
From the TED talk video:
“A long time ago, about forty years ago, my mom had an exchange student named Donna.”
(Note the Rosary, Missal and “Belo”)
(Donna eating ice cream.)
“And this is Donna teaching my Aunt a Filipino dance.”Unmistakably Filipina, either an Igorot or Muslim dance.
Anybody who knows her? Where is she now, the Filipina behind Pangea Day? Might be a great story for FilipinaImages.com.
Images captured from the TED.com talk.
Comments
12 May 2008
Technograph said:
Amazing how technology records Donna’s existence for our enjoyment 40 years later!
The Philippine Influence Behind Pangea Day said (pingback):
[…] We complained about the Philippines missing out on Pangea Day, because of the awful time (2AM yesterday!). But ironically, as Magandang Balita reports, the idea for the event may have come a Filipina named “Donna”. […]
Jun Asis said:
@Technograph - And these are just a black and white images. i wonder how people 50 years from now would dig the archives of social bookmarking, twittering, movies and blogs. I bet they’d be getting a better view of who we are and what we hold dear.
Still, we as a nation, shouldn’t miss out on events like these. Maybe the indie film makers still can “catch up” and the rest of us do what we can.