'Web' documentary considers the power of connectivity
While it's difficult to get past the less than subtle positioning of OLPC as the singular antidote to global poverty, the trailers do provide very interesting footage of rural Peruvian childrens' responses to the laptops, but does not provide evidence to suggest that teachers will feature heavily in the film.
It will be interesting to see if the film does indeed present the argument that technology is eroding tradition and culture or if it will linger over the promise of a future for the rural poor delivered by OLPC.
Web: La Selva from Web on Vimeo
The website righteouspictures.com/web/ cites the inspiration for the book:
The concept for the film was inspired by the book, Nonzero, by New York Times Best-Selling Author, Robert Wright. In short, Wright’s book argues that both biological and cultural evolution have pushed life and the human species toward relationships in which our fates are more tightly intertwined. The interdependent word we find ourselves in today, Wright concludes, is inscribed in our genes – our acceleration toward it pushed along by a technological evolution that began with the very first stone tool.
The film questions whether we can maintain our culture and traditions in the face of relentless modernization.
It’s due to be released in the spring of 2011.
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