This Handsome Rescue Pup And His Hunky Crew Are Out To Steal Your Heart

October 16, 2014, 3:23 pm

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This photogenic pup can really work the camera, and probably gets some tips from his posse.

Rincon, a stray dog from Puerto Rico, was rescued by model Julian Schratter when he was visiting the island. Schratter brought the animal home to Brooklyn, New York, where he and his roommates, also models, decided to have a little fun with their new furry friend.

They created an Instagram account for Rincon under the handle, rincon_da_bully. The page, which features shots of the handsome pup along with his hunky friends, quickly gained popularity, and after just four months, boasts almost 19,000 followers.

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Family Portrait

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"The reaction to Rincon's page has been overwhelming," Schratter wrote in an email to HuffPost. "Rincon loves the camera and the camera definitely loves him."

Though the rescue pup enjoys his time flaunting his fabulous angles for the camera, Schratter says he does have a few other hobbies, including spending time with his "uncles," (Schratter's roommates), and going to the park.

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Yeah girl. Can I holla at you? #sex #symbol #blues #beagle #rescue #puertorico

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It's been a few months since Schratter brought Rincon home, and he says his experience raising the pup has been so rewarding that he wants to do more work for strays and other rescue animals.

"Rincon is a great companion -- an all around amazing dog. I'm thrilled that our paths crossed and that I was able to save him," he wrote in an email. "I'm actually planning another trip to Puerto Rico soon so that I can continue to help with the stray dog problem that exists there."

Check out more photos of the handsome fella below:

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Did some modeling for @throughwhose http://www.throughwhosecrew.com/store/

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Want to know where @nick__bateman gets his Ninja skills and game from. Yeah your looking at it and he's pointing at it. Me, Muah, I the BOSS dog Rincon.#sexsymbols #boss #stunnashades #lookbackatit #ninjashit #puppy #rescue

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Dog / Pillow with @throughjuleslens

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Chicago A Cappella Group Performs 'Global Transcendence' Concert With Repertoire For World Religions

October 17, 2014, 11:19 am

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With religious tensions high around the world, one Chicago-based a cappella group is aiming to make a difference with the one tool it has: music.

Chicago a cappella kicked off its "Global Transcendence" program with concerts on October 11-12, and two more are scheduled for this weekend. The program showcases "the musical intersections of the world’s faiths" with selections from Jewish, Hindu, Baha'i, Christian and other traditions.

The interfaith theme of the concert is deeply rooted in founder and artistic director Jonathan Miller's own background. In the program notes for the show, Miller wrote:

My parents met while studying Hinduism and meditation in Boston. Swami Akhilananda, my parents’ teacher and one of the pioneering bridge-builders between Eastern and Western religion and psychology, had posted on the wall of the Boston Vedanta Society a saying from the Rig Veda, a sacred Sanskrit text, which began: “Truth is One; Sages call It by various names.” My parents taught me this idea in my earliest years, and it remains a birthright of sorts for me.

On top of this background, Miller serves as cantor during High Holy Days services at a Conservative Jewish synagogue in Chicago and has sung in Catholic and Protestant services for decades, the group's executive director Matthew Greenberg told HuffPost.

Combine Miller's passion for spiritual traditions with current events, and the show's timing could not be better, Greenberg said.

"It seems that never before has our world been more aware of sectarian and inter-religious conflict," he said. "It so fills the airwaves and information flow that we begin to think there is nothing that connects us, only that which divides."

This concert, Greenberg said, aims to dispute that.

Listen to a sampling of Chicago a cappella's "Global Transcendence" program below:

"Dastam Begir," a Baha’i song with soloist Emily Price:


Begins with Eshu O, a traditional Ghanaian chant, and segues into “Alleluiarion of Pentekoste," a traditional Greek Orthodox chant:


“O Lux Beatissima” by Howard Helvey, featuring ancient Christian text:

With 'Fury,' David Ayer Finally Made A Movie He Likes

October 17, 2014, 11:31 am

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The violence in David Ayer's "Fury" is relentless and brutal. The first scene of this World War II movie features Brad Pitt, playing a sergeant with the nickname Wardaddy, stabbing a Nazi officer in the eye. Minutes later, a wet-behind-the-ears private named Norman (Logan Lerman) is forced to clean up the remains of a tank gunner lost in battle. As he scrubs the blood, Norman picks up a flap of skin that contains part of the deceased soldier's face.

"It's pretty fucked up," Ayer told HuffPost Entertainment about the violence in the film. "But it's nothing compared to my research. It's so candy-ass compared to the crap that really happened."

Ayer is best known for his grit. He's the man responsible for "Training Day" (his breakout script), "Harsh Times," "End of Watch" and "Sabotage." His next film, announced just this week, is the Warner Bros. adaptation of DC Comics' "Suicide Squad." As a teenager, he joined the Navy and worked for two years on a nuclear submarine. "Fury," which he has called the "study of a family," is his passion project: a World War II movie that doesn't glamorize the events of the war, but shows the brotherhood of combat so many films about conflict and battle often miss.

"The guy who died unknown and alone made as large of a sacrifice as the guy who died on Omaha Beach. It's reverse engineering the World War II movie," Ayer said of his film. "There's no sentimentality. In the pantheon of World War II movies ... watch them today." Ayer trailed off. "That's all I have to say. Watch them today."


Shia LaBeouf, Brad Pitt, Jon Bernthal and David Ayer on the set of "Fury."

Stories about the production of "Fury" have become notorious. Co-star Shia LaBeouf was so immersed in his method-acting process for the film that he pulled out a tooth and repeatedly cut his face. Ayer, meanwhile, encouraged fist fights between the cast, which also includes Jon Bernthal and Michael Pena. ("You wouldn't like my other personality," Ayer joked when asked about his onset demeanor.) But all the shenanigans work. "Fury" includes LaBeouf's best performance in quite some time; Pitt and Lerman are equally strong.

"Actors want to act," Ayer said. "I think a lot of times what happens is that they're expected to bring it all. Probably because I'm a writer, I'm not telling them what to do. I just provide them with as much as I can. Whether that's information, emotional literacy, experience, time with each other, history with each other. It's their job to create the character with all the building blocks I give them. The more I give them, the more defined their character is going to be."

Ayer said that he would often send Pitt late-night text messages with backstory for his character, none of which appears in the film itself. "It's my favorite part of the process: actors," Ayer said. "I love actors."

Which is part of the reason he got along so well with Pitt. The 50-year-old is one of Hollywood's biggest stars, but he's also an influential actor who also understands the production process better than most of his peers. (He won an Oscar as producer on "12 Years A Slave.")

"I wanted to do a Snoopy dance. Woo-hoo! He's a fucking actor," Ayer said of Pitt. "Because you can be a superstar and not an actor. It's great because he likes actor stuff. It's like, 'Dude, I can help you. I'm here to help you with that actor thing. Let's create an amazing character.'"

Reviews for "Fury" have been fairly positive -- it currently owns a 76-percent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes -- and it stands as one of Sony's more high-profile awards contenders this year. Yet Ayer has already said that critics have "knives out" for his film.

"You always hear critics ask for something different. But you do something different and you read reviews like, 'Why isn't it the big storybook mission? Where's the scene where they're talking about the farm back home?' All the crap I hate in war movies," Ayer said. "It's heartbreaking because this is not a journeyman project for me. This is my life. This is my heart and soul. These actors put their heart and soul in it. Everybody who has worked on the film was truly doing so as a labor of love. When they come at it with a switchblade, I feel bad for everyone who has touched the film."

Not that he would let a few poor notices ruin the experience of making "Fury."

"Someone said something interesting to me: a lot of the great movies have always been very polarizing. You look back at reviews of movies that are in the pantheon and they have vastly mixed reviews," he said. "This is a good movie. I hate everything I make, and I like this one. That's a good indicator. I think it's there to be discovered."

Conan O'Brien Takes A Shot At CNN's Ebola Obsession

October 17, 2014, 11:59 am

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Does it seem, sometimes, like cable news coverage of Ebola might be a bit excessive?

While the virus is definitely no laughing matter, it was only a matter of time before Conan O'Brien poked some sharp-witted fun at the media's Ebola obsession with a faux-CNN broadcast inspired by sidekick Andy Richter's powerful sneeze.

All the typical cable news tropes are there: the slow-motion replay, the commentary from passerby who don't quite know what's happening, and an anchor asking specific, semi-relevant questions in a stern tone.

Independent Publisher McSweeney's To Go Nonprofit, Which Is Great For Publishing

October 17, 2014, 12:27 pm

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The announcement on Thursday that independent publisher McSweeney’s plans to become a nonprofit inevitably carried a note of gloom. Though described as “very good news,” it’s clear that financial struggles played a large part in the decision; Buzzfeed highlighted founder Dave Eggers’ remark that “every year it gets just a little harder to be an independent publisher.”

Such a public reminder of the continuing struggles -- particularly for independent presses -- might naturally lead book-lovers to reflect darkly on the unhappy future of the publishing industry. It’s hard to swallow Eggers’ revelation that “an independent literary title that might have sold 10,000 copies 10 years ago might sell 6,000 now, for example.”

McSweeney’s pivot to nonprofit, however, is a reminder that profit-making always sits uncomfortably with certain ventures. The press functioned as a for-profit company, but, in practice, its mission was to produce meaningful, well-crafted art rather than commercially appealing products. In some ways the fact that McSweeney’s had operated as a for-profit seemed surprising; their almost single-minded focus on quirky, niche texts suggested their motivation was to enrich the literary scene, not to fill their coffers.

Big publishers with a profit motive certainly have their place in the literary world -- consumers want celebrity memoirs and blockbuster thrillers, so they ought to be published, and, in the case of large publishers, they tend to help finance the publication of less sure bets like experimental fiction and poetry. The very fact of this tradeoff made by large publishers indicates that books aren’t a pure commodity like so many other goods traded in the marketplace. The finest or most adventurous works may not make much money, but of course this shouldn’t determine their value or preclude them from publication. It could be argued that literature offers a public good -- the value in what publishers produce lies far beyond what can be determined through pure capitalism. For certain independent publishers, operating as a nonprofit allows them to focus on sustaining the literary arts by taking risks on avant-garde books or edgy debut authors without financial distraction.

Of course, McSweeney’s isn’t the first independent publisher to operate as a nonprofit. The high-quality literature produced by the likes of Graywolf Press and Coffee House Press exemplifies what nonprofit status can make possible for smaller presses. Though these presses, like McSweeney’s itself, may produce occasional hits -- Graywolf published Leslie Jamison’s bestselling essay collection The Empathy Exams this year -- they often put out mainstream misses that may well have landed if the focus had been more money-driven. After all, essay collections aren’t typically expected to sell strongly, and Jamison’s rather intellectual musings on pain and human feeling may not have seemed a likely winner. Nonetheless, we’re all better off that Jamison’s book (and the rest in the nonprofit indie presses’ catalogs) had the opportunity to be developed under the expert hands of editors and make its way to readers.

Jamison signed a major book deal with Little, Brown in the wake of The Empathy Exams' runaway success, underscoring the role independent publishers play in supporting the more experimental and literary arms of major publishers. By focusing more exclusively on riskier, perhaps less universally appealing authors, indie presses sometimes strike gold -- a brilliant, groundbreaking author with broad appeal, prime for publication by a major press. Ben Lerner, whose Leaving the Atocha Station was published by Coffee House Press, is another notable example of this phenomenon. After Paul Harding's Pulitzer Prize-winning Tinkers was published by Bellevue Literary Press, he was picked up by Random House for his next novel. The unconventional catalogs fostered by these presses aren't geared toward efficient money-making, but they are necessary to allow great art to find a footing and an audience.

In its announcement and subsequent press coverage, McSweeney’s -- and founder Eggers -- took care to emphasize the opportunities the changeover would make available. “Now there are all these things that seem possible,” Eggers told SFGate.com. While McSweeney’s has already steered away from high-profit ventures and toward more edgy ones, potential status as a 501(c)(3) organization will allow it to accept donations for projects and expand its offerings to include less financially viable publications.

With publishers increasingly feeling financially pinched, nonprofit status may not be a cure-all, but it’s encouraging to see more public discussion of the option. Though we’d all like to see independent publishers like McSweeney’s selling more each year, it’s vital that some publishers primarily seek quality and artistic innovation.

Health Goth Is More Than A Fashion Trend

October 17, 2014, 1:01 pm

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What the heck is Health Goth?

While the term may look strange at first glance, the idea behind the wearing of head-to-toe black sportswear is simple: it promotes a way to make the fitness world more accessible to people who don't fit the stereotype of the typical gym-goer.

Less about wearing any particular brand or even style of clothing, Health Goth is a a subcultural movement, a new point of entry for people who'd rather pump iron to Nine Inch Nails or Type O Negative than Maroon Five or Taylor Swift -- and who don't necessarily feel at home at the typical Top 40-blaring, Lululemon-dominated gym.

The origin of Health Goth is generally traced back to April 2013, when two Portland men launched the original Health Goth Facebook page.

Since then, others have taken up the Health Goth banner, including Chicago-based music producer and party promoter Johnny Love, the man behind HealthGoth.com. This summer, Love launched a line of t-shirts and sport bras that subvert -- with a sinister spin -- the look of fitness wear from corporate brands like Nike, Adidas and Under Armour.


One of Love's designs, the "Dead Worldwide" shirt, is worn by nightlife personality Jazzeppi.

Love hopes the trend will help encourage the dark-hearted among us to lead healthier lives.

"The evolution, or rather, byproduct of its existence will be a generation of gym-goers who realize that you don't have to be a jock to lift weights, and who do it listening to darker and/or more aggressive music," Love told HuffPost via e-mail.

The message appears to be resonating. What started as a social media meme now appears -- thanks in no small part to coverage from fashion and cultural publications including Marie Claire, PAPERMAG and Complex -- ready to hit the mainstream.

The style has been described by some as an outgrowth from black-heavy looks like street goth or goth ninja, but there's much more to it than the clothes. As the cliché goes, it's seen by its devotees as a lifestyle.

At its core, Love describes Health Goth as "about achieving an attractive level of physical fitness." In 2013, he created a "#HealthGoth Fitness Bible" that urged people to start eating more healthily -- refraining from eating anything that cannot be made in one's own home kitchen -- and to work out regularly, exercising one's entire body evenly by completing full exercises, not being afraid of lifting weights and, above all, "work[ing] out 'til you feel like death."

Love doesn't particularly see anything too contradictory about bridging the ideas of "health" and "goth" together, either. Many icons of the culture -- like Trent Reznor and Glenn Danzig -- have remained in excellent physical shape throughout their careers. There's even websites like MetalWorkout.com, geared toward the fitness-minded who prefer music fast and frightening.

"[Fashion designer] Rick Owens has sung the praises of working out and he has a good point," Love said. "Clothes fit and look best on a well maintained body, no one wants to see a Grover belly poking through your Under Armour compression shirt. After your body is right then you can swaddle it in all the semi-futuristic, minimal, monochrome sportswear you desire, and then it'll look good."


Love (right), with a friend, both wearing "Dead Worldwide" after a soccer match.

Love has had success as the movement's poster boy. The first run of his line sold out, and he now has his eye on putting out a wider range of gear, including shorts, leggings, a football jersey and a low-cut bodybuilder-style tank top.

But as Health Goth continues its evolution from a hashtag to well-known style and culture, could it be heading the way of preceding music-oriented microtrends -- like seapunk or "witch house" -- that lost their cachet when chart-topping pop stars co-opted the look?

Love understands that exposure is "a double-edged sword," but is hopeful for a lasting impact regardless if Katy Perry or Lady Gaga pop up in music videos wearing monochrome black above Nike Roshe running shoes.

"If only the superficial elements of Health Goth are what gains traction, then I see the same thing happening [to it]," he said, referring to discarded trends.

"There are still people who dress 'punk' because there is an actual culture that goes along with it, [but] if something is solely a clothing style, then it can be tossed away and picked up by a mom on the sale rack at T.J.Maxx."

Sting Sings Cellphone Ringtones For Jimmy Fallon And Every Little Thing He Does Is Magic

October 17, 2014, 1:31 pm

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He's sending out an SMS. Sting visited "The Tonight Show" on Thursday to talk about his Broadway play, "The Last Ship," and Jimmy Fallon got him to turn old cellphone ringtones into "Stingtones" because puns totally rule.

After the singer put his spin on the classic tones, he even recorded a voicemail message on a random audience member's phone in the style of "Message in a Bottle."

Is this even real life?

"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on NBC.

L.A.'s New Play 'Discord': If Religion And Comedy Had A Baby, This Would Be It

October 17, 2014, 2:22 pm

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At some point in our lives, we've all asked ourselves the same two questions: "Why are we here?" and "Does God exist?"

Scott Carter's new play "Discord" explores these questions, rather comedically, through the eyes of Thomas Jefferson (played by Larry Cedar), Charles Dickens (played by David Melville) and Leo Tolstoy (played by Armin Shimerman) -- arguably three of the greatest writers and intellects of all time.

It's quite a feat to throw three historical figures in a room together and ask them to figure out the meaning of life. Carter, an executive producer and writer for Bill Maher’s "Politically Incorrect" and "Real Time," is up to the task.

He uses a formula similar to Sartre's "No Exit" and locks the scribes in a room which -- you guessed it -- has no exit. It soon becomes clear that each man had died, albeit at different times, and entered this room directly after his demise. Eventually they discover what they all have in common: each man was brazen enough to write his own gospel.


Larry Cedar, David Melville and Armin Shimerman in "Discord: The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy".

Thus begins the discourse and discord, if you will, in which we hear all three characters' individual takes on the authenticity of the Bible, the nature of God and free will. Tolstoy obviously takes the cake on the latter.

In summary, Dickens argues in favor of a more supernatural God complete with miracles, Jefferson remains steadfast as a devout follower of reason (which according to Dickens is "Booooooring") and Tolstoy advocates non-violent, yet anarchist ideals. Every conversation and argument is sprinkled with witty repartee and chuckle-inducing references to the writers' iconic works.

If you're unfamiliar with the writings of these literary geniuses, or conversely, you failed to stay awake during that "Intro to Philosophy" class in college, the play can still be enjoyed for one reason: it makes you think (and laugh). Whether or not you agree with the play's notions isn't really the point. It opens your mind, forces you to address your own thoughts on free will and morality and leaves you wondering, "What does happen when we die -- if anything at all?"

"Discord", directed by Matt August, is showing at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles through November 16.

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Ansel Elgort Found The Bench From 'The Fault In Our Stars'

October 17, 2014, 2:56 pm

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Okay? Okay. Ansel Elgort, star of many movies from the last 12 months, was in Amsterdam on Friday and re-found the bench made famous by his breakout release, "The Fault in Our Stars." Here are photos of Elgort's reunion with the spot, via his Instagram account.

Wczytywanie

Found the bench!! :)

Zobacz w Instagramie

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Asked two people kissing on the bench if that was the bench from tfios. Was a great moment, then asked them to take a pic for me

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HuffPost Live's 'Spoiler Alert' Discusses The Latest Frights Of 'American Horror Story'

October 17, 2014, 3:07 pm

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Jessica Lange is the matriarch of all things "American Horror Story," and with this week's second "Freak Show" installment, it feels like we're finally diving into the mystery and nuance of her character, Elsa Mars.

HuffPost Live's "Spoiler Alert" series talked Lange's character and the rest of this week's "AHS" on Friday. Host Ricky Camilleri and our panel of TV obsessives also touched on the latest episode of "How To Get Away With Murder" and engaged in a debate about sex on television, centering around the controversial episode of "The Mindy Project" that brought anal to primetime.

Sign up here for Live Today, HuffPost Live's new morning email that will let you know the newsmakers, celebrities and politicians joining us that day and give you the best clips from the day before!

'How To Get Away With Murder' Perfectly Takes On The Western Beauty Myth

October 17, 2014, 3:16 pm

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ALERT: The following piece and video contain spoilers for Thursday's episode of "How to Get Away with Murder."

Hit Shondaland drama "How to Get Away with Murder" continues to establish itself as one of television's most progressive shows, and Thursday's episode was no exception. Aside from its realistic depiction of gay sex, which Vanity Fair discussed at length, the episode took on the Western Beauty Myth -- which suggests thin, white, glossy-haired women are the peak of attractiveness -- with aplomb. (The same myth that led to Alessandra Stanley's tone deaf piece describing star Viola Davis as "less classically beautiful.") In the final two minutes of the show, Davis' Annaliese takes off her wig, jewelry and makeup onscreen, in an arresting moment that shows her unadorned.

The more television -- a medium which usually so stringently upholds discriminatory standards of beauty -- pokes holes in the illusion that women "woke up like this," the more cultural notions of what people of all races do and should look like can expand. Check out the clip, and hope that more TV shows follow in the fantastic drama's footsteps.

These Moving Street Art GIFs Are Everything We Ever Wanted... In A GIF

October 17, 2014, 5:39 pm

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Street art, removed from the stuffy confines of a gallery's white walls and placed in the bustling city streets, could already be described as "art in motion." However, most people who'd employ such a description have likely not yet been introduced to the looping street art GIFs of an individual by the name of AL Crego.

Crego's deliciously contemporary creations turn your favorite street-dwelling designs into compelling animated shorts. Some GIFs inject movement into the artworks themselves while others toy with the fluctuating nature of their habitats -- also known as the urban jungle. The Spanish artist explained to Pixable that "if [the artworks] were moving, they could give more meaning to the piece itself." We can't really argue with him there.

Take a look at the animated goods, which bring the ephemeral beauty of urban art to the digital spaces of the Internet, below and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

An Intimate Peek Into The Offices Of New York's Many Therapists

October 17, 2014, 5:39 pm

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It didn't take long before psychiatrist Sebastian Zimmerman noticed a paradox within his particular profession. Although he worked with a wide variety of people, in theory, so much of his day was spent in isolation, holed up in his own office away from the world. This strange realization came to be the motivation behind Zimmerman's interest in photography, a vehicle through which he could access the spaces outside of the therapist's room.

And yet it is the office itself that became Zimmerman's muse.



In his series, "Fifty Shrinks," Zimmerman captures New York's therapists, ranging in age, orientation and therapeutic perspective, in their places of work. Some adorn their professional homes with artwork, books and tchotchkes, while others prefer a minimalist aesthetic. Some offices mimic a cozy home while others feel more like scientific laboratories. In total, the images give a rare comprehensive look at the world of urban therapy.

One aspect of the office jumps out immediately in Zimmerman's photos. While other medical or professional rooms have a list of technological devices at the ready -- an examination table or a laptop -- therapists require little more than two places on which to sit. In fact, the uncanny workplaces are often designed to mirror the psychological philosophies of their owners, as spaces of transformation somewhat in line with the ideas they communicate.

To make matters even more intriguing, most therapist offices are off limits to all those excluding patients, leaving their general appearance shrouded in mystery. "These rooms are detached," Zimmerman writes in a statement, "floating vessels, places of sanctuary and protection, healing and reconciliation."

"What is the therapist considering when first setting up a work place?" he asks further. "How does his or her personal preference and theoretical orientation manifest in the furnishing and decoration of this physical and psychic environment?"

Zimmerman begins to answer these questions and more through his fascinating glimpse into places of business simultaneously banal and bizarre. Step behind the often closed doors of 50 of New York's therapists in the photos below.

These Are The Real Stories Behind Some Of The Most Beautiful Colors In Art

October 17, 2014, 5:39 pm

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Manganese black. Yellow ocher. Vermilion. Ultramarine. These pigments sound delicious. Their names are so sharp and elegant, it's as if the terms emote more meaning than just color. We can smell logwood, taste cochineal, touch mummy brown. There is just something (quite scientifically) alluring about a perfectly saturated glob of paint or an electric mound of powdered hues, especially when its name is so tantalizing.

The uniqueness of the names undoubtedly prompts those amongst us, who obsess over the various pink, purples and blues, to wonder where the terms come from. We learn the origin stories of famous paintings in art history course after art history course, but it's rare to read about the birth of Madder red or mauve. How did the colors in Vincent van Gogh's "Irises" or J.M.W. Turner's "Modern Rome" come to be?


Jacques Joseph Tissot (French 1836–1902), Portrait of the Marquise de Miramon, née Thérèse Feuillant, 1866. Oil on canvas, 50 ½ x 30 1/8 in. Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum, 2007.7.

Enter The Brilliant History of Color in Art, courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum and author Victoria Finlay. The tome outlines the backstories behind nearly every obscure shade of the rainbow, explaining how artists from cavemen to David Hockney have involved colors in their processes. The book is available here, but we've got a preview of the publication below. Behold, the real (abbreviated) histories of 10 famous colors in art.

Zaha Hadid Designs Five Wooden Towers To House Cambodian Genocide Institute

October 17, 2014, 5:39 pm

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This post originally appeared on ArchDaily.
by Karissa Rosenfield



Zaha Hadid Architects have unveiled their design for the Sleuk Rith Institute in Phnom Penh. The highly-anticipated project, commissioned by the Documentation Center of Cambodia’s (DC-Cam), will serve as Cambodia’s go-to archive for Khmer Rouge history and a leading center for genocide studies in Asia.

Five wooden towers, inspired by ancient Angkorian architecture, will house the institute’s “cross-section of pursuits,” including a genocide research center, graduate school, museum, document archives and research library. As the towers rise, the structures will interweave and link, connecting various departments above the ground level and uniting the institution as a singular whole.



From the architects: A vision of Youk Chhang, a tireless human rights activist and investigator of the Khmer Rouge atrocities, the Sleuk Rith Institute will house the Documentation Centre of Cambodia’s one million document archive and, as the largest collection of genocide related material in Southeast Asia, will become a global centre for education and research into the documentation, causes and prevention of genocide.

Despite the tragic history explored at the institute, Youk Chhang’s research led to the very considered brief for a building that promoted reflection and reconciliation, and also inspired and innovated. “We were keen to create a forward-looking institution that deviates from the distress-invoking, quasi-industrial, harshness of most existing genocide memorial models. This is not to criticize or denigrate such models but, instead, to emphasize that in light of a Cambodia’s rich cultural and religious traditions, we must move in a different and more positively-oriented direction,” stated Chhang.

“The best memorials are not objects we visit once, contemplate, and file away. The best memorials evoke reflection and commemoration, but are also living, dynamic public places that engage with all generations in the community,” continues Chhang.



The institute’s design is organized as five wooden structures that are separate volumes at ground level, but interweave and link together as they rise upwards; connecting the different departments, visitors, students and staff within a singular whole. With an overall footprint of 80 meter x 30 meter at the base and 88 meter x 38 meter at roof level, the structures range between three to eight stories.

Each of these five buildings will house a different function: the Sleuk Rith Institute; a library holding the largest collection of genocide-related material in Southeast Asia; a graduate school focussing on genocide, conflicts and human rights studies; a research centre and archive to influence national and regional policies and discourse; a media centre and an auditorium that can be used by the institute and the entire community.



The architecture of the ancient temple site Angkor Wat, and Cambodia’s many other remarkable Angkorian sites, builds complexity by combining and interlocking a multitude of geometric forms in a formal progression of connected enclosures. As they gain in height and coalesce, the Sleuk Rith Institute’s five buildings define an intricate spatial composition of connecting volumes; generating a series of exterior and interior spaces that flow into each other to guide visitors through the different areas for contemplation, education, engagement and discussion.

The design connects the museum, library, school and institute at various levels, allowing different users to interact and collaborate, enhancing their understanding and experience. Yet each of the institute’s functions is also able to operate independently when required.



Constructed from sustainably-sourced timber, the primary structure, exterior shading and interior partitions give natural scale, warmth and materiality. The more complex forms have been designed and engineered to be assembled from economical straight and single-curved timber sections with established technologies.

The site is located in the grounds of the Boeung Trabek High School in Phnom Penh, south of the city centre. The existing school buildings (now abandoned when the high school moved to its new premises) were used as a re-education camp during the Khmer Rouge regime – as were many schools in Cambodia – making this a fitting location for the Institute: building on the past to educate the future.

To accommodate Cambodia’s tropical climate, the narrower lower levels of the institute are shaded by the building’s form, while louvers on the upper levels keep out strong sunshine. Located at the confluence of the Mekong and Tonlé Sap Rivers, the institute’s buildings will be built on raised terraces, to protect from Phnom Penh’s seasonal flooding.



Visitors approach the building on causeways above reflecting catchment pools that mirror the building’s form and bring light deep into the internal spaces. As with the catchment pools of Cambodia’s ancient temple sites including Sras Srang and Angkor Wat, these pools – and those on the upper level courtyard and terraces – will be fed by harvested rainwater and are integral to the institute’s water management processes that minimize the impact on the local environment and drainage systems.

Entering through the atrium at the centre of the building, visitors are welcomed by exhibits from the Institute’s collection. From here visitors are directed to the museum where exhibitions continue or to the school and auditorium. The auditorium is on ground level while classrooms and professors’ offices are organized around the outdoor courtyard above and continue on upper floors.

Above the entry atrium, the Institute houses the Documentation Centre archive, with offices for researchers and Institute administration on the top levels. A bridge is suspended above the atrium to connect the school and library.



The building’s passive design – including measures to reduce energy and water consumption while increasing system efficiencies, and the installation of renewable energy sources – will increase its ecological performance. The institute’s form minimizes solar gain, and the external shading system will be varied on each elevation to reduce solar gain whilst maintaining sufficient daylight levels where required. Thermal buffer zones protect the archive and exhibition spaces and further reduce energy consumption. Water condensation from the air handling will be recovered for reuse and foul water will be treated on-site via bio-reactors or a natural plant-based wastewater treatment system that can be incorporated within the park.

The horizontal roof of the building is hidden from view to house renewable energy sources that are extremely effective in Phnom Penh’s climate: photovoltaic cells for power and a solar thermal array for hot water generation. Plant and air-system heat exchangers will also be located on the roof, maximizing the area within the building for the institute’s commemorative, educational, cultural and community programs.



The institute includes a 68,000 square meter memorial park for the entire community with sport fields, urban vegetable garden and fruit orchards, traditional meadows and a forest that will house contemporary Cambodian sculptures, many of these commemorating the women that helped to rebuild the country. The park slopes away from the building to provide further protection against seasonal flooding. The southern end of the park is landscaped to become a large retention pond during heavy monsoon rains, alleviating the city’s existing flood drainage. The park’s many pedestrian paths link together neighboring streets that had previously been disconnected, inviting the local community into the heart of the institute.

The Sleuk Rith Institute complex has been granted approval and is scheduled to start construction on site next year.

Architects: Zaha Hadid Architects
Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Design: Zaha Hadid, Patrik Schumacher
Zha Design Director: DaeWha Kang
Zha Lead Designer/ Project Leader: Brian Dale
Zha Project Team: Malgorzata Kowalczyk, Michal Wojtkiewicz, Torsten Broeder, Fernanda Mugnaini
Client: Sleuk Rith Institute
Client Director: Youk Chhang
Structure / Mep / Façade / Lighting / Acoustics: Arup
Project Manager / Structure Lead: Ben Lewis
Mep Lead: Emmanuelle Danisi
Facade Lead: Jonathan Wilson
Lighting: Giulio Antonutto
Acoustics: Philip Wright
Consultant Project Team: Chris Carroll (Project Director); Vincenzo Reale, Jason Simpson, Edward Clarke Anne Gilpin, Toby Clark, Sara Clark, Michael Young
Landscape Architects: AECOM – Phil Black (Design Director), Mun Pheng Mak (Project Manager), Sarmistha Mandal (Associate); Hwei Hwei Chan, Akarapol Chongwattanaroj, Eunice Chia, Chung Ho Kim (Design Team)
Renders: MIR
Illustrations: Jan-Erik Sletten
Film: Viktor Fretyán
Photographs: Courtesy of ZHA


Cite: Rosenfield, Karissa. "Zaha Hadid Designs Five Wooden Towers to House Cambodian Genocide Institute" 10 Oct 2014. ArchDaily. Accessed 17 Oct 2014.

Zaha Hadid Designs Five Wooden Towers To House Cambodian Genocide Institute originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on October 10, 2014.

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Iranian Fathers And The Diverse Daughters They've Raised

October 17, 2014, 5:40 pm

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This post originally appeared on Slate.
By Jordan G. Teicher



While living in Malaysia, Nafise Motlaq found the way people talked about her home country, Iran, disturbing. They seemed to lack a realistic vision of the country because they relied mostly on stereotypes.

Inspired by this frustration and a trip home to visit her father, Motlaq, a senior lecturer at Universiti Putra Malaysia, decided to try and explore the father-daughter relationship in Iran using photography.

“There is a stereotype of Iranian men and women, which you see in a lot of mainstream media. This simple project is a reaction to that. It’s about real portraits of Iranians,” Motlaq said via email.

While Motlaq doesn’t think the relationship between fathers and daughters in Iran is too different from those in other countries, she was keen to use it as a way to highlight the country’s “diversity of families, opinions, and classes of society.” The fathers she ultimately photographed represent a range of professions, from farmers to engineers to clerics. Their daughters’ descriptions of them are just as varied. Some seem protective (“My friends think he cares about me too much but I think he is a great supporter in my life,” one said) while others come across as quite liberal (“Our father has studied in Europe. That’s why he gave us all freedom the Western youths have in personal life,” said another).

Other images signal more ambiguous relationships. One daughter, standing with her father, a military veteran, tells Motlaq, “He is always my hero, but I wish he was a hopeful happy father he used to be.” Another says, “I don’t know what to say about him. I really don’t.”

Motlaq spent a little less than two weeks photographing the series, traveling through cities and rural areas in order to better capture a wide swatch of the country. Her goal, she said, was to show that “Iranian men are not all the same.” Among them, she said, are many like her own father who train and support their daughters and women’s rights in general. “There are a lot of successful Iranian women in universities, business, art, science, and industry and we should understand most of them have very supporting fathers and male friends in their life,” she added.

Iranians, and Iranian photographers in particular, are trying paint a more accurate picture of their country for the world. Motlaq hopes that trend continues and that her own project helps replace stereotypes with real, if not exactly picture-perfect, representatives.

“My culture may have lots of weakness and things that I don't agree with, but, whatever it is, it’s far from the current image that the media have been created for people of the world,” she said. “When you live outside Iran, you get tired of those wrong perceptions, those weird questions and dark images people have about your country. They judge everything based on that false information. I think knowing the reality and truth is very important even if it’s bitter sometimes.”

See more photos on Slate.

Cocaine Withdrawals and Blood Transfusions: Clive Owen On The Season Finale Of 'The Knick'

October 17, 2014, 9:24 pm

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WARNING: Major spoilers ahead. Do not read on if you haven't seen the Season 1 finale of "The Knick."

"The Knick" ended its 10-episode debut season on Friday, and the hope each character found in his or her new beginnings was bookended with a sense of dread. Thackery discovers an unfortunate way to kick his cocaine habit in the form of 1900-era heroin. Barrow bests Bunky Collier, but Mr. Wu learns of his manipulation. Cornelia's wedding day arrives, but she's haunted by the thought of her clandestine abortion and her feelings for Dr. Edwards. And Edwards himself is given the chance to shine while Thack is out of commission, but he, too, must suffer knowing Cornelia is off vowing to love another man. No character wins, but the show surely does. This was a stunner of a season finale, exemplifying the best of Steven Soderbergh's slow-burning drama. HuffPost Entertainment caught up with star Clive Owen, who plays Thackery, to discuss the finale.

Did you study cocaine withdrawal to decide what that would look like once Thackery's supply runs out?
I did as much research as I could. The great thing is that cocaine shortage again was based on fact. Everything in the show is inspired by real events. The idea of starving Thackery of his drug and then coming back and this more than ever was a brilliant way of climaxing. To go through that period of struggle, of not having the drug and then getting it and taking too much, was always, I felt, a great way to build him toward the end.

Nurse Elkin's role in procuring cocaine is fascinating. Does Thackery really love her, or does he only appreciate when she can do things for him?
I think by that time he’s a desperate addict. When she delivers that and when she finally comes through with the cocaine, he’s like, "She’s the most beautiful, loving person." He’s a desperate addict by this point. Just the fact that she’s delivering what he needs is everything.

We see him compete to advance various surgical procedures, but he does it mostly out of ego so he'll always be considered the best. How much does Thackery actually care about medicine?
I really do think by the ending couple of episodes that he’s completely lost his way. He’s a complete paranoid, competitive mess by the end. He is brilliant, but by this point he’s in a desperate place and he’s not thinking straight. That’s kind of where we’re taking him -- he’s heading for a fall.

Many of the surgery scenes are both graphic and relatively primitive. Is there a doctor on set guiding how they should look?
Yes, we had the most amazing expert, a guy called Dr. Stanley Burns, who runs this archive of literally hundreds of thousands of photographs from this period in the world. The show is like his fantasy come to life. He has an unbelievable wealth of material; he has medical documents that were handed between doctors at the turn of the century, he has instruments that were used at the time. He was there for every single operation and would be able to describe exactly how it would have been done, so we leaned on him tremendously.

That blood-transfusion scene in the finale is wild. Surely some of that is CGI.
Really, I have to say that the prosthetics guy on this thing did an absolutely unbelievable job throughout, and there’s so little CGI in this whole series. Everything is totally convincing, even to the naked eye, including that transfusion scene. That was the one scene where I remember I turned to Steven at one point and said, “How on earth are we ever going to bring back Thackery from this?” Will we ever be able to redeem him from this? I mean, in such a coked-up state, to be attempting something like that with this poor little girl, it’s a wild as it could get. But that’s the make of the show.

Do you think Bertie made the right choice in remaining so loyal to Thackery, especially at the end when he realizes what's been going on?
It’s difficult because Thackery does eventually go off the rails, but there’s no question that, at the beginning when we meet him, Thackery is a genius. He’s learned an incredible lot. That’s the journey of what happens, but there’s no question that Bertie would have learned an awful lot, but he’s also had to withstand an awful lot.



What do you think happened to Abigail and her syphilis nose?
We might not have seen the last of her. I won’t say any more on that.

We've seen shocking surgeries all season, but the most jarring moment probably comes when we see that Eleanor's teeth have been removed because that's how doctors thought they'd cure mental illness.
I agree with you. It is shocking, and what’s shocking is that that was the practice at the time. That was real. They actually really did think that. And the scary thing, when you do a show like this, is that what we’d be doing in 40 or 50 years’ time would make us think, "How on Earth could we have thought that was right?" How on Earth could a doctor really have believed that?

It must be hard to shoot in contemporary downtown New York but make every scene look and feel like it's set in 1900.
Steven has just the most incredible people around him that he’s been working with for a long time. What was really incredible is when you film on one of those outside days, you’d come to the exterior of the hospital and you’d walk on and everything would already be up and running. You’d do a shot in the carriage and it would pull up and you’d get out and 20 minutes later we’d be on to something else. It was so incredibly efficient, and they were so focused in getting those big outside scenes nailed so quickly. There were very challenging days -- we were shooting real New York Chinatown for 1900 Chinatown. We’d find a block in there that we’d dress and shoot, but you can imagine the logistics of trying to pull that off. They went in there and they were just incredibly together.

What's the most fascinating thing you've learned about medicine in 1900?
The thing that you’re kind of left with is just how much they were shooting from the hip. It was a time of change; things were coming big and fast. They were rethinking things on a weekly basis. At the time, doctors were sharing information across America and Europe. It was a wildly exciting time in terms of the breakthroughs they were making, probably this time in this period more than any other period.

You've worked with Robert Altman, Mike Nicholas, Alfonso Cuarón and Spike Lee. What does Steven Soderbergh, the consummate multitasker, bring to "The Knick" that no other director could?
I think the reason no other director could have taken this on and done it the way that he did it is that he has done everything. He directs, he operates, he lights, he edits, and it’s a singular vision. It’s 10 hours of television that completely comes back to one man and a singular vision. To have that is really extraordinary because I don’t know of any of the other directors you mentioned or any director that I’ve worked with who could do that and could hold the whole canal like he approached it at the speed with which he approached it. And he dealt with something so rich and detailed. He’s extraordinary in that way; there is no one like him. For an actor to work with that is a real privilege because he’s so on top of all aspects of what’s going on that you’re kind of left just worrying about your acting, which is a great place to be because you’re so sure. It’s a one-stop gig. You know that it all comes back to him. There’s something kind of great about that, about shooting a scene and there not being that dialogue of, “What if we did this?” or “What if we did that?” No. It goes back to that guy and his vision and his taste and his talent. I’m telling you he’s a hugely, hugely impressive person.

When does Season 2 start filming?
We go into pre-production soon and I think I’m heading out to New York for January.

What do you hope to see in Thackery's future now that he's been exposed to heroin?
He's been so edgy in his story and so visceral and dangerous. What’s great is the idea of being able to go into the next season and it could just pick up and hit the ground running, taking it further and exploring new territories. I’ve got a number of the scripts already and it’s just really exciting where we can take it.

What Jefferson, Dickens And Tolstoy Can Teach Us About Exploring The Big Questions

October 18, 2014, 4:30 am

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In 1804, over three consecutive evenings, President Thomas Jefferson completed a private spiritual project. Using the King James Bible, he took a penknife to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, cutting out the Scripture he liked and pasting it into his own blank book. He called the book The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth and, fitting Jefferson's own worldview, it ignored Jesus' miracles and resurrection and scoffed at the idea of God's having a son.

The so-called Jefferson Bible, the original of which is now owned by the Smithsonian Institution, has long been studied as an example of one founding father's belief in God and his dislike of what he saw as the "corruption of schismatizing followers" of Christianity. Lesser known are the reimagined Gospels produced by two equally famed writers who followed Jefferson.

In 1846, around the time he was writing David Copperfield, Charles Dickens penned The Life of Our Lord, a recounting of the life of Jesus to share with children. The book, adapted from the Gospel of Luke, was secretly passed down by his descendants and remained unpublished until 1934. Meanwhile, Leo Tolstoy -- in the midst of a spiritual crisis in 1886 -- created his own condensed Bible, a 12-chapter recounting of Jesus' life. The Gospel in Brief not only shortened the story but rewrote entire parts.

Instead of laboring separately, what if the three men could have come together?

That's the scene imagined in "The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord," which opened this week at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. Part comedy and part thought-provoking, emotional theater, the play imagines the men joining in an attempt to write the perfect Gospel. Voracious debate about earthly life and the cosmic world ensue.

"The play becomes a Rorschach test of what you are bringing into it as an audience," said author Scott Carter, who is familiar with pitting political and theological foes against each another from his time as a writer for Bill Maher, first on "Politically Incorrect" and currently as executive producer of "Real Time" on HBO. "What I want people to have when they leave is the same sense of urgency that I did."

The spiritual questions that consumed Jefferson, Dickens and Tolstoy are the same ones that have intrigued Carter in the 28 years since he suffered a near-death asthma attack that led to a week-long hospital stay. Questions of his place in the world, his relation to God and his life's purpose confronted him head-on, he said. As someone who grew up "vaguely Protestant," Carter made a promise to be open to all spiritual experiences that came his way.

That included reading the Biblical works of one brilliant president and two illustrious novelists.

Scott Carter wrote "The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord."

As a standup comedian before making the switch to TV in the late 1980s, Carter recounted his near-death epiphany in "Heavy Breathing," a monologue about God and the quest for meaning. Later, having dabbled in shamanism and hallucinogens, he performed "Suspension Bridge," a comedy show about his spiritual samplings. "I made this agreement with the universe that if anybody wants to talk to me about religion, I'll talk. I'll try anything. And when you open yourself up that much, especially in a city like New York, a lot of things will happen to you," he once told a reviewer from the Tucson Weekly.

These days, Carter's spiritual practices have turned more inward: He meditates 20 minutes twice daily, tries to write in his journal regularly and ends each day with a reading that touches upon issues of spirituality or philosophy.

"I have not had a doubt about the existence of God since I got out of the hospital in June of '86. I'm interested to find out what is similar between religions, what is shared in the teachings of Buddha, Jesus and Lao Tzu," Carter said. A lesson he learned from Jefferson, Dickens and Tolstoy that he has applied to his own life: "One does not have to accept all of a given doctrine. One can negotiate with his own conscience what one actually accepts."

It's a message brought to life in his play, which received an initial run last winter at Los Angeles' NoHo Arts Center.

The three great men are not portrayed as perfect seekers. A dramatic Dickens, played by David Melville, doesn't shy from talking up his high intellect and his view of himself as a fine family man. Jefferson, played by Larry Cedar, presidentially boasts of his achievements. And Tolstoy's strident pacifism, inspired by the call to "resist not evil" from the Sermon on the Mount, is brought to life by Armin Shimerman.

Each actor, too, has drawn his lessons from the play.

"I have always been a practitioner of 'what will be will be' -- a tangential corollary to 'resist not evil' -- and I have found that that mindset has put less stress in my life and has proved over and over again that seeming defeats usually lead to new scenarios with great joys," said Shimerman. "Tolstoy criticized institutional religions, and though I am Jewish, I have always thought the same."

The philosophical discourse on stage has been a departure for all. Melville, co-director of Los Angeles' Independent Shakespeare Company, performs Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" each year and played Baron Darnay in the 2011 adventure film "Ironclad." Cedar was the opium-addicted Leon in the HBO series "Deadwood." Shimerman was Quark, a Ferengi bar owner, in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and Principal Snyder in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

"I never knew the spiritual aspect of Dickens or his treatment of the Bible, but of course we've all heard of him. But this is a whole other side," said Melville. "Each man thinks he is the better one, but each also has a negative aspect of himself. Jefferson was a slave owner. Tolstoy was a hypocritical, egregious fornicator. Dickens, who saw himself as a perfect Victorian husband, treated his wife horribly."

That's one takeaway Carter hopes that audiences, who can catch the play through Nov. 23, will mull over.

"There's going to be a gap between how refined your personal theology and your practices are," he said. "There's going to be a difference between the ideals you espouse and the life you lead."

"What's really valuable," Carter said, "is acknowledging that and asking those big questions."

10 Stunning Images Of Remote Destinations

October 18, 2014, 4:44 am

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From Lapland to the US and back again, photojournalist Kris Ubach and freelance photographer Roberto Ivan Cano have spent the past seven years, cameras in hand, journeying to the most remote places on the planet. The result of this long journey can be seen in their exhibition in Spain Unusual Nature.

The first stop (and the starting point of their work) was Lapland, where they traveled to photograph the Northern Lights. This experience got them thinking about the difficult situations photographers face and the stories that lie behind each image. That is precisely what can be seen in Unusual Nature, which displays the remote places or extreme conditions photographers go through in order to take the perfect photo.

Some photos take a long time to work on, while others succeed partially on luck, just being in the right place at the right time. "The trips are consciously prepared; one must know in advance when the sun rises or sets in the places you're going, what time of year is good depending on the wildlife, or what weather conditions are most suitable for each subject," Kris Ubach explained to The Huffington Post. Photographer Sean O'Connell likens it to something like what Sean Penn's character said in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty:" "Beautiful things don’t ask for attention."

It's all a question of timing. In this case, the timing has resulted in these stunning images of adventure and extreme conditions.



This article originally appeared on Huffington Post's Spain edition, and was translated from Spanish.

'The Red Umbrella Diaries' Documentary Shares Stories Of Queer Sex Workers

October 18, 2014, 5:44 am

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Why do individuals make the decision to engage in sex work?

There are a million answers to this question, and we don't see authentic portrayals of what it means to be a sex worker very often. For this reason, sex workers rights organization Red Umbrella Project and Free Association Films brought together seven queer sex workers to tell their stories at NYC's Joe's Pub. The result? A film called "The Red Umbrella Diaries."

According to a press release sent to The Huffington Post, The Red Umbrella Diaries "began as a monthly storytelling series in 2009 at the now-closed Lower East Side lounge Happy Ending, in a space that was once a happy ending massage parlor." During the four-plus years that the series ran, "100 people with experiences in the sex trades told their stories at the events."

In order to better understand the goals of this project, The Huffington Post chatted with Audacia Ray, the film's executive producer, this week.

The Huffington Post: How is The Red Umbrella Diaries different from other explorations of sex work?
Audacia Ray: The Red Umbrella Diaries is different from other explorations of sex work because its driven by first person stories and though we collaborated with filmmakers who are not sex workers, we had the final say about the content and representations in the film. It's also unique in the spectrum of sex worker media representations because of the variety of people in the film - all are LGBTQ identified, three are women of color (one of whom is trans), and two are men. Most conversations about sex work focus on cis women, so it was important to us to broaden the scope of perspectives.

Why do you think this film is important?
I think the film is important because it captures diverse experiences of the sex trade without offering up one simplistic party line about whether sex work is exploitative or empowering. It's both and neither, and often one person's experience can contain both of those experiences in one lifetime - sometimes even in one day.

What were you most surprised about while making the film?
I already knew that everyone featured in the film would get along with each other, but it was really amazing to see the friendships grow among us all. We are all really different and have had very different experiences in life and in the sex trade. Also, while a lot of us shared really tough things in the stories we told, we laughed a lot. There's a particular kind of gallows humor that people who've faced adversity have.

What do you hope viewers take away from The Red Umbrella Diaries?
I hope the film makes viewers question the assumptions they make about sex workers. I want the film to spark conversations and questions about how sex workers negotiate around work, family, religion, mental health, friendship, and visibility in media and in our communities.

"The Red Umbrella Diaries" is slated to premiere in 2015. Check out a trailer for the film above and head here for more info.