Indigenous Protest in Cambodia

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

We’re on the Indochinese peninsula for this Geo Quiz, looking for the name of a southeast Asian forest. It’s home to indigenous Kui people who’ve lived in the forest for centuries. Illegal logging and mineral mining are taking a toll on the ancient forest. If that sounds like something out of Avatar, then you won’t be surprised to hear that some Kuy tried to dress like characters in the movie to protest the destruction of their sacred forest. Can you name that forest? Download MP3

Avatar director on environmental mission

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Film director James Cameron wants to shine a light on a dangerous and environmentally damaging oil-extraction process in Canada. The ‘Avatar’ director set out on a fact-finding mission this week to the oil sands in Alberta, meeting with government officials and local residents. Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with Cameron about his latest off-screen project. Download MP3

Obama’s new words, Avatar in the Amazon and a Chinese satire

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

As Obama enters the second year of his presidency, he’s dropped some expressions — “war on terror”, “Af-Pak”, even “Middle East”. His administration has invented a few too: “remotedly piloted aircraft” (drones) and “overseas contingency operations” (wars). Also, a special screening of Avatar in Ecuador for indigenous groups. What did these Shuar and Achuar speakers think of Avatar’s invented language, Na’vi? Finally, a new online satirical movie is all the rage in China. It features a Chinese double-entendre phrase aimed at avoiding government censorship. The movie also includes a fantastic “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” rant.
Download MP3

Avatar in the Amazon

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

If there were ever a place that came close to the magical world of Pandora in James Cameron’s new film Avatar, it would probably be the Amazon. There may not be butterflies that look like flying squid, but in the Amazon can you eat giant worms and lemon flavored ants for dinner in a forest that is home to both the jaguar and the pink dolphin. Reporter Melaina Spitzer joined a group of indigenous leaders from the Amazon in Ecuador’s capital Quito, to see Avatar on the big screen in 3D. Download MP3

• Watch a video of the indigenous leaders going to see Avatar
• Official Avatar website

Avatar’s Hallelujah Mountain – in China!

Let’s go on a “magical tour to Avatar’s floating mountain”. That’s exactly what a city in China’s Hunan province is promoting on its website. And that’s where you come in: we want you to name this Chinese city.

• Zhangjiajie website
• Confucius vs Avatar

Confucius versus Avatar

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

James Cameron’s sci-fi spectacular ‘Avatar’ is hugely popular in China, but the government has been pulling it out of various theaters to replace it with the new epic about the life of Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher, starring Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun-fat. Mary Kay Magistad went to the movies to find out what people in China make of this. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• Confucius movie trailer

Pandora

Our eyes are on Pandora for today’s Geo Quiz. Pandora is the setting for the science-fiction movie “Avatar.” The film broke through the “one billion dollars in ticket sales” barrier this past weekend. That’s thanks in part to big international audiences. “Avatar” is already the most successful movie EVER in the country we want you to name today.

Windows 7 in African languages, unfortunate baby names, and the new Klingon

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Our top five language stories this month: African languages get their versions of Windows; the government of Moldova changes the name of the country’s official language; South Korean birthing centers go multilingual; unfortunate foreign meanings of baby names and how you can protect yourself; and Na’vi, invented for the silver screen, hopes to emulate Klingon.

Download MP3