May 2012
4 posts
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First Music Review for Tiny Mix Tapes
‘Eternal Turn of the Wheel’ by Drudkh, is my first music review for Tiny Mix Tapes. The review was published online on 25.05. Have a read!
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An Interview With Daniel Emmerson for TEFL.net
Written by Tara Benwell for TEFL.net Tara: Tell us a bit about your background in the English language teaching industry. What was your involvement in TEFL before making the Learning English Video Project documentaries? Daniel: I suppose the very root of my background in ELT began when I embarked on the ERASMUS study abroad programme with the British Council. I was studying Media Arts for my B.A....
April 2012
1 post
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Photographs from Myanmar
Take a peek at some of the pictures I took in Myanmar/Burma earlier this year!
March 2012
2 posts
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Photographs from Cambodia
I have just included a link to my Cambodia highlights in the Photographs section of the site.
February 2012
3 posts
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Return to Europe
I am now back in England after spending the last five months in India and South East Asia, followed by two weeks in Poland. Coming back to the UK after spending so much time on the road has been quite an experience; sharing stories, making plans, writing proposals, cataloging research, plotting essays, organising digital media and trying to encapsulate the experience is proving to be rather...
November 2011
2 posts
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Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge
Between the years of 1975-1979, modern day Cambodia was referred to as Democratic Kampuchea. It was governed in whole by the Khmer Rouge, a political group with such devastating objectives that one in every four of the people it governed was murdered in order to try and obtain them. Attempting to try and understand these objectives in a contemporary context almost seems without warrant due to the...
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Notes on Burmese Days
I found it to be a rather odd sensation, swinging back and forth gently in a thick, mesh hammock as the sun rose over the Four Thousand Islands, or Si Phan Don, while reading Orwell’s classic. It was the first time I had read Burmese Days, and the ringing of colonial humdrum split right through my level of concentration, lighting up not too distant memories of the rest of my time Laos and...
October 2011
4 posts
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The Thar Heritage Museum - Notes
A short entry I put together concerning my first visit to the Thar Heritage Museum in Jaisalmer, India, on 12th September 2011. I have a short video series to go with this document that I hope to be able to post as soon as I find myself with a good Internet connection and a spare day to catch up with things. Tomorrow morning I will leave Luang Prabang for Phonsavan, Laos.
The Thar Heritage...
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Notes on The Last Mughal
Books and novels are an inevitable part of the backpacker’s luggage allowance. In some cases, taking a few hours to read presents the opportunity of transporting one’s thoughts and focus away from the immediate environment. However, due to the nature of the backpacker and the endeavour that they set out upon, that is not so likely to be the case. More often that not, it is the environment that...
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A Short Post from Laos
Today we are moving on to Muang Sing from Luang Nom Tha. Our time here has been an absolute joy and I long to stay in Laos and explore this remarkable country no end. I hope to start posting photos from Thailand soon.
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From Chiang Rai
After spending 10 days in Chiang Mai, I am now posting from Chiang Rai, which is further North on the Mae Kok River. I am staying here for a few days before heading to Laos by boat. I plan on taking my time exploring the roads fewer people have taken there - starting at the border crossing of Huay Xai and heading North to Luang Nam Tha and Muang Sing before beginning the journey South.
Wat Suan...
September 2011
4 posts
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The Thar Desert
From Udaipur we continued north through Jodhpur to Jaisalmer. The three days we spent exploring the Golden Desert City, interviewing museum directors, photographing Jain temples and drifting across Gadi Sagar Tank on a pedalo were sensational to say the least. Following that, we moved on to Bikaner, which is 320 kilometres East of Jaisalmer but still situated within a stones throw of the Thar...
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Notes from Udaipur
India has certainly been keeping me occupied; five days in this hyper-complicated, ultra-shambolic and uber-pretty country have already provided me with enough tales to tire my grandchildren through their adolescence. Four days in Mumbai simply slaughtered any preconceptions I had of that ever tumultuous metropolis, while my first day in Udaipur has been like a soul-massage. Having said that,...
August 2011
3 posts
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Leaves for Mumbai
Tomorrow I leave for India. The last few days have been full of joy and excitement, despite the fact that they mark the end of another terrific summer on England’s sunny shores. The following photos are a testament to the past week and a half, which involved a superb number of days in North Devon, a night out in Clapham followed by a delightful day out in The Big Smoke, a family farewell BBQ...
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Summer Video & Photo Uploads
I am uploading a whole new batch of films and photos to Tsaiho. The Downside Review Film 2011, is now available in the Millfield section of my website. It has a fantastic year for Downside, Millfield and the Prep School and I am already looking forward to returning next summer!
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Delamer - wavewhite wedded works →
For when it all draws to a close…
June 2011
12 posts
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On The Run
A picture from my new jogging route between Stratton-on-the-Fosse and Holcombe. Granted, it was a beautiful evening, but there is nothing quite like the English countryside when it comes to jogging terrain.
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In The Loop & Inside Job
Two political films of an utterly different nature I have seen recently. ‘In The Loop’ - a satyrical comedy concerning the hidden complexities of decision making procedures between the White House and Parliament. Focusing very much on spin, personal relationships within political parties, contacts within the media and the wild variations of etiquette that exist between individuals...
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Omar Souleyman & Zum Zum Egui
It embarrasses me somewhat to have to recoil into deep thought every time I am asked what the last music concert I attended was. This is due in most part to the fact that I adore discovering new music and seeing bands play in small venues whenever the opportunity arises. After last night’s antics however, I shall no longer have to recoil quite so much as I witnessed a most spectacular live...
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Camping in Exmoor
I have just returned to work at Millfield School in Somerset after a fantastic few days camping in Exmoor, England. For the time being I am residing in the guest wing of the monastery at Downside Abbey while the roads nearby teem with cars pouring in and out of the Glastonbury music festival in Pilton.
The camping trip constituted what I consider a well deserved break after completing my two year...
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Chernobyl and Pripyat: Part 3
The third and final chapter of my report on Chernobyl has been published on High Contrast Review.
All three chapters of the personal report I wrote after returning from the ghost city of Pripyat back in April this year are now available to explore amongst a selection of photographs I also took on the trip.
Please click on the links below in order to find each chapter:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
...
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Graduate
I am pleased to announce that I graduated from the University of Wroclaw one week ago (10.06) with the highest possible grade for my MA in International Relations. The course took two years to complete and was a truly fascinating experience.
The Ossolineum (below) acted as my study hub for the past couple of months and after returning to the grim drizzle of the UK, I am missing the wonderful...
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Chernobyl and Pripyat: Part 2
The second part of my report on Chernobyl for High Contrast Review is now online:
http://highcontrastreview.com/travel/chernobyl2
Photo: de.
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Chernobyl and Pripyat: Part 1
The first section of my short story on Chernobyl is now available to read on High Contrast Review. The story comes in three parts, with part two set to be published on Monday 13th and part three on Sunday 19th of June. The story also features a series of photos I took on my journey to the abandoned cities of Chernobyl and Pripyat back in April this year during the 25th anniversary of the nuclear...
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The Bruce Bedlam Story
Back in 2006 when I was working for Future Planet, I crafted a collaborative documentary film on quite possibly one of the most interesting people I have ever met. The film was collaborative in the sense that Future Planet had been working on making a production on this subject for quite some time; it was in March 2006 however that I went about securing the final interviews and began piecing the...
THE PROSECUTOR OF THE TRIBUNAL AGAINST RATKO... →
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Afrykamera - African Film Festival, Wroclaw
Yesterday was the second day of the Afrykamera film festival in Wroclaw. The festival showcases a combination of film productions, spanning a multitude of genres, with discussions, lectures and music performances throughout.
The first spectacle I got to see consisted of a series of 10-minute shorts in a reel that displayed a wonderful array of talent amongst a rather disappointing selection of...
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Sudan: Race, Religion and Violence
I am currently reading ‘Sudan: Race, Religion and Violence’ by Jok Madut Jok, professor of history at Loyola Marymount University. I am approaching the concluding chapter and it is quite possibly one of the most gripping accounts of an African state I have read yet. Jok takes the reader on a historical journey from the pre-independence riots of 1955, through to the start of the second civil war...
May 2011
35 posts
Agent Report: Chernobyl : High Contrast Review →
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Chernobyl
My Agent Report on Chernobyl for High Contrast Review is being released into the public domain this week. I will also be posting links here. See the lead on HCR - http://highcontrastreview.com/travel/chernobyl
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Everything Bad Is Good For You
The Sleeper Curve
Named after Woody Allen’s 1973 film, The Sleeper Curve is a hypothetical gauge for measuring the complexity of mass cultural products with regards to the cognitive thinking benefits that they have on human beings. It comes from Steven Johnson’s 2006 book ‘Everything Bad is Good for You’, which argues (among other things) that the complexity of mass culture in the form of online...
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Watch‘Hannah Miller Sings the Blues’
A solo performance by Hannah Miller of The Moulettes performing in Brighton, England. I recorded this exquisite piece back in 2008.
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WatchThe Veddas (2005)
The Veddas focuses on the lives of a native, tribal community in the Mahayangana junlges of Sri Lanka. I shot this film over the course of a ten day stay with the tribe in the junlge. This was my first solo documentary film, which I presented as part of my undergraduate course in Media Arts at The University of Plymouth.
Claudia's Travel Blog - Pakistan and Some Other... →
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The Veddas (continued)
The Veddas
by Daniel Emmerson
(continued)
An apparent formation occurred just after the leech incident. The Shaman’s son marched up front, cutting down rogue branches and scouting the land for snakes. The largest Vedda, a chubby tribesman with a huge beard and sagging nipples, followed behind him. I was next, and the small boy followed with his father, a thin, brutish fellow with long black...
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The Veddas
To celebrate my documentary film ‘The Veddas’ being made available online for the first time, I have decided to re-post a short story I wrote for High Contrast Review.
THE VEDDAS
by Daniel Emmerson
The young boy grappled patiently with the hem of my trouser leg. The sweltering heat was forever present as my milky shins greeted the light of day behind their mask of rugged denim. It...
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Inside the UK - The Learning English Video Project
‘Inside the UK’
- from my documentary film series ‘The Learning English Video Project’
Encounters in the UK is the 7th and final film in this documentary mini-series. It tells the story of four girls from different countries who travel to Cambridge in England to study English and stay with local families in what is called a “homestay” arrangement. In the...
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Thoughts from Brazil - The Learning English Video...
‘Thoughts from Brazil’
- from my documentary film series ‘The Learning English Video Project’
Thoughts from Brazil looks at modern trends in learning English, especially for children and teens. This instalment will be of particular interest to all those who long for a learning experience that is more interactive and communicative. Teens and young adults will find new...
Hu: Opportunity for cross-Strait relations should... →
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Insights from China - The Learning English Video...
‘Insights from China’
- from my documentary film series ‘The Learning English Video Project’
Based in the busy, cosmopolitan city of Shanghai, Daniel Emmerson’s latest film Insights from China takes us inside the worlds of English language learning and teaching and the airline industry in China. “Insights from China” focuses largely on the staff and...
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Conversations in Spain - The Learning English...
‘Conversations in Spain’
-from my documentary film series ‘The Learning English Video Project.
This film starts with a school director whose British father opened the first English language school in Granada in 1954. In this candid interview, the director explains why the first students were predominantly women. The second conversation features an Italian architect visiting...
Belarus and Ukraine Make Plans for Pripyat River |... →
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Tales from America - The Learning English Video...
’Tales from America’
- From my documentary series ‘The Learning English Video Project’.
This film is set in New York City. While the learners in Tales from America describe New York as “big”, “unbelievable” and even “lonely” at times, Emmerson uses the words “busy”, “vibrant” and “very...