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Entertainment behind the scenes
from Environment Forum:
Surprise ending to director’s oil sands visit
James Cameron did not meet expectations with his high-profile visit to Alberta's oil sands, and that's probably to the Canadian-born filmmaker's credit.
An earlier contention by the director of "Titanic" and "Avatar" that development of the massive energy resource was a black eye for Canada had industry supporters in a tizzy.
Surely, his trip to oil sands plants and native communities in the region would be just another example of some celebrity seeking to burnish his green cred without knowing the real story, they said.
On the other side of the emotional debate, some green groups staunchly opposed development expected Cameron to fully side with them. They had trumpeted comparisons between the oil sands and resource extraction portrayed on the fictional planet Pandora in "Avatar."
Berlinale goes green…sort of
The Berlin Film Festival used to distribute tonnes of press releases, media kits, brochures and other information from filmmakers trying to get the attention of thousands of journalists every day, filling some 1,500 cubby-hole media mailboxes with piles of paper that few ever needed or read.
That all changed this year when Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick decided to abolish the paper practice and take a few other fledgling steps to protect the environment – such as switching lighting systems on the red carpet to use more energy efficient lights and using hydrogen-powered cars to shuttle celebrities to and fro.
