tagged w/ Sundance
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ALL NEW!!! Fascinating interview with Mick Hurbis-Cherrier, co-author of 'Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics.' If you're a new or experienced filmmaker, a student, or someone who wants to understand more about why directors do what they do, I think you'll enjoy this book and our video conversation! Thanks for watching Mr. Media and I hope you'll share on your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest or other social media accounts. http://www.mrmedia.com/2013/02/directing-film-is-hard-work-but-you-can-learn-to-do-it-right-2013-video/#.US42iRm96pkALL NEW!!! Fascinating interview with Mick Hurbis-Cherrier, co-author of... more
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PARK CITY - Probably a half-hour into "Escape From Tomorrow," I turned to William Goss, another critic who was at the screening with me, and whispered, "How does this exist?"
Perhaps the most unusual thing I've ever seen at a film festival, "Escape From Tomorrow" is a slow descent into madness, told from the perspective of a father who finds out that he has lost his job on the final morning of a family vacation. As he spends the day with his family, trying to make them happy, his grip on reality seems to come gradually unhinged, leading to… well, I'm not sure I could describe what it leads to even if it weren't a spoiler. Shot in black-and-white, the film has a strange disassociated vibe to the storytelling, and writer/director Randy Moore has a very clear authorial voice. It is not an understatement to say that it is one of the most unsettling things I've experienced in a theater in quite a while, and part of that is because, even now, even after seeing the Q&A with Moore, even after talking it over with Goss while we ate dinner, even after going over it in my head, I still don't fully understand what I just saw.
All I know is Walt Disney's lawyers are probably climbing onto helicopters and planning a raid on Park City right now.
See, the entire film is set inside the property at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and a fair amount of the film appears to have been actually shot on the property, during business hours, without anyone's permission. It is largely stolen feature film, and while they were careful to change all the music so they're not playing anything in the film that they could get sued over, they are still including tons and tons of familiar Disney iconography. Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck… all the costumed characters appear. We see huge chunks of the "Snow White" ride, portions of the "Winnie The Pooh" ride, material shot inside the Haunted Mansion. There's an entire sequence built around waiting in line for the Buzz Lightyear ride. They go to Epcot, and Spaceship Earth is prominently featured and even blown up at one point. It feels like someone saw "Eraserhead" and said, "Hey, why don't we get that guy to shoot an infomercial for the Magic Kingdom to get more families to come?" and this is the oh-so-not-what-they-wanted result. It is a magnificent, impossible nightmare.
It is not possible that this film exists. It is not possible that they shot long scripted sequences on the actual rides. It is not possible that I just saw a film in which it is suggested and then shown that the various Disney princesses all work as high-priced hookers who sell their wares to wealthy Asian businessmen. It simply cannot be true.
I grew up in Florida, and I have been going to Walt Disney World my entire life. I worked at that park. I've been there as a child, as a teenager, as an employee, and as a parent. I've done Disney sitting on my father's shoulders, and I've done the Disney parks with my kids sitting on my shoulders. It is a huge part of my DNA, and I can tell you that there is no way Randy Moore pulled off what I saw tonight. It is a film that should not exist by any rational definition.
And yet… not only does it exist, but it's fascinating. Reading Moore's statement in the press notes, he also grew up around the Florida theme park, the child of a broken marriage, and he spent most of his holiday time with his father in those parks. He has very strong feelings about his family, about his father, and about Disney, and those memories are all tangled up together for him. He cannot think about his relationship with his father without thinking about Disney. To his credit, the easiest way to do this would have been to make it a found-footage movie so there would be an excuse for everything being staged in front of a consumer grade single camera. He didn't do that, though. Working with his cinematographer, Lucas Lee Graham, Moore shot on the Canon 5D Mark II Digital SLR camera, and the results are miraculous. This looks like a "real" movie, and yet it had to have been shot under the most insane conditions, and there was no way for them to do any traditional set-ups or lighting.
Roy Abramsohn plays Jim, the father who is losing his mind, and it's one of those performances that I find hard to describe in traditional terms. He has to play things perfectly natural in places, and he has to play this crazy heightened reality in other places, and somehow, he has to make it feel like all of this makes perfect emotional sense because his reactions are in many spots in the film the only "normal" thing we have to hold on to. The film taps into all the nightmares that are inherent to modern parenthood, all the pressures and the private worries, and it works as a bad dream if that's how you want to read it. There is an upsetting thread running through the film about two teenage girls who he notices early in the day. Jim can't stop looking at them, and as his very strange day wears on, he keeps running into the girls, keeps following them. He practically pants after them. Danielle Safady, one of the girls, really is a young teen, and she looks it. Her friend, played by the gorgeous Annet Mahendru, also looks young, but is evidently in her early 20s. Doesn't change the way Moore makes you feel complicit in Jim's transgressions, constantly ogling the girls, making it uncomfortable from the very start.
The movie also serves as a very wry commentary on the entire nature of the pre-packaged family fun park experience, and in some ways, this is what is most upsetting about it. By using the real Disney parks and then by tweaking it in small ways, Moore turns this familiar space into something both oppressive and surreal, and he seems to be fascinated and disgusted in equal measure by the sort of plastic happiness that the Disney parks sell to the public. It is genuinely sinister, and I am sure the next time I have my own family at one of the parks, lots of the imagery from this film is going to linger with me.
The movie is undisciplined at times, rough around the edges in places, technically uneven, and there's no sense of pacing to it at all. Even so, there is a sort of naive charm that makes it impossible to look away. I don't love every element of the film, but I love that this is a movie, that I actually saw this thing, and that Moore was deranged enough to make it the way he did. I'm no fool… I can tell that there were sections they accomplished by shooting background plates and then performing some scenes in green screen, but there is far more of it that they shot in the real locations without anyone's knowledge, and that stuff has an energy that's unlike any other movie I've ever seen.
I honestly feel like this is never going to see the light of day. I can't imagine any other studio or distributor wanting to tangle with Disney's legal department on what could or couldn't be shown. There will be changes made, and I'm guessing there's a chance it'll just vanish. But I think the film's existence raises some fascinating questions about how you can use something shot in a public space, what control Disney truly has over images shot on their property, and the nature of what constitutes a legitimate use of a trademarked figure. Is this social commentary? Pointed satire? Legitimate anxiety that should be protected as free speech about the world we all live in? I'm not sure. All I know is that Moore has made something singular, a completely original film, and he's done it in a way that feels like a magic trick. Here's hoping he gets a chance to share it with more audiences.
By Drew McWeeny Saturday, Jan 19, 2013
http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/escape-from-tomorrow/featurette-meet-the-artistsPARK CITY - Probably a half-hour into "Escape From Tomorrow," I turned to... more
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The irony seems to be lost on these assembled blue-state hipsters that during their favorite film festival, Park City’s faux-rustic streets sport as many sponsor logos as the average NASCAR vehicle.
http://takimag.com/article/inconvenient_truths_about_sundanceThe irony seems to be lost on these assembled blue-state hipsters that during their... more
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To Catch a Dollar, a 2010 Sundance Film Festival selection, documents the birth of Grameen America and the effort to bring Nobel Peace Prize winner and Presidential Medal of Honor winner Muhammad Yunus's revolutionary microfinance program to the United States. The film features stories of women borrowers from around the world -- with a focus here in the U.S. on the plight of those struggling to saveTo Catch a Dollar, a 2010 Sundance Film Festival selection, documents the birth of... more
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While most blogs cover the gowns of the Golden Globes, SAG and the Oscars, we decided to cover the street style of Sundance Film Festival, in Park City, Utah.
http://brokeandbeautiful.com/2011/the-streets-of-sundance/While most blogs cover the gowns of the Golden Globes, SAG and the Oscars, we decided... more
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Veteran Film Distributor Gary Rubin comments on what's behind the resurgence in independent film sales at this year's Sundance Film Festival.Veteran Film Distributor Gary Rubin comments on what's behind the resurgence in... more
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Independent Film Finance Consultant Louise Levison reports back on the unprecedented buying frenzy at this year's Sundance Film Festival.Independent Film Finance Consultant Louise Levison reports back on the unprecedented... more
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“Like Crazy,” a romance directed by Drake Doremus and starring Felicity Jones, above, (and purchased by Paramount Pictures and Indian Paintbrush), won the grand jury prize for an American dramatic film at the Sundance Film Festival awards, announced on Saturday night. Peter D. Richardson’s “How to Die in Oregon,” a searing look at assisted suicide, won the grand jury prize for an American documentary.“Like Crazy,” a romance directed by Drake Doremus and starring Felicity... more
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Watching two movies in a row in which adolescent girls cut their bodies with a razor was a reminder of all the dark places the Sundance Film Festival takes you. This time there were movies featuring drug addicts, abusive cults, a drunken driver who wipes out a family and Saddam Hussein's sadistic son.Watching two movies in a row in which adolescent girls cut their bodies with a razor... more
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Mike Cahill hit pay dirt with his first feature film, Another Earth, a sci-fi story about an MIT student who discovers a planet previously hidden behind the sun.
The movie debuted Monday at the Sundance Film Festival and sparked a feeding frenzy among studios’ specialty divisions. Fox Searchlight bought Another Earth for an estimated $1.5 million to $2 million, according to Variety.
Cahill, a former National Geographic documentary maker, co-wrote the script with Brit Marling (pictured), who stars as the young astrophysicist who makes the startling discovery. Another Earth has an additional Sundance screening Thursday and is expected to be released theatrically later this year.
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/01/another-earth/Mike Cahill hit pay dirt with his first feature film, Another Earth, a sci-fi story... more
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by Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger
According to Robin Marty of Care2.org, today’s young whippersnappers are snorting bath salts and plant food to get their kicks. I knew I was getting old when I had to check the media to find out about the latest youth drug menace.
But, before you go and blow your allowance at the Body Shop or the garden center, keep in mind that “bath salt” and “plant food” are just euphemisms that web-based head shops use to sell these amphetamine-like drugs , according to a 2010 report by the UK Council on the Misuse of Drugs. The active ingredients of this legal high are mephedrone and methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV).
Despite what the media would have you believe, these designer drugs are not ingredients in common household products. You cannot get high on actual bath salts or plant food. Sorry. Gardeners, if you bought exotic imported “plant food” online, and it arrived in an impossibly tiny packet, don’t feed it to your plants.
Anti-choice black op linked to James O’Keefe
At least a dozen Planned Parenthood clinics across the country have recently been visited by a mysterious, self-proclaimed “sex trafficker” who was apparently part of a ruse to entrap clinic employees. Planned Parenthood reported these visits to the FBI.
In each case, the man reportedly asked to speak privately with a clinic worker, whereupon he asked for health advice regarding the underage, undocumented girls he was supposedly trying to traffic.
Jodi Jacobson reports at RH Reality Check:
[Prominent anti-choice blogger] Jill Stanek and other anti-choice operatives, including Lila Rose of Live Action Films are effectively claiming responsibility for sending pseudo “sex traffickers” into [Planned Parenthood] clinics, and also warn of “explosive evidence,” of which they of course present…..none. They appear to have no credible response to exposure of their efforts to perpetrate a hoax on Planned Parenthood.
As Jacobson points out, sex trafficking is a very real problem. And a sex trafficking hoax diverts time and resources that the authorities who could be hunting down real traffickers. She adds:
Victims of sex trafficking, after all, also need sexual health services because they are effectively being raped regularly and are more likely to contract sexually transmitted infections and experience unintended pregnancies. Does this help them get treatment?
Lila Rose of Live Action Films is a former associate of right wing hoaxster James O’Keefe, who orchestrated a sting operation against the social justice group ACORN. O’Keefe was sentenced last year to three years’ probation for scamming his way into the offices of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) in January, 2010.
Sex, lies, and the classroom
To mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the National Radio Project presents a discussion of sex ed in American schools, federal funding for sex ed, and advocacy by interest groups and parents. Guests include Phyllida Burlingame of the ACLU and Gabriela Valle of California Latinas for Reproductive Justice.
Hot coffee!
Remember the woman who sued McDonald’s after she spilled a hot cup of coffee in her lap? Corporate interests made Stella Liebeck into a national joke, even though she won her suit. Hot Coffee is a new documentary that tells the story behind the one-liners. Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! interviews Ms. Liebeck’s daughter and son-in-law.
McDonald’s corporate manuals dictated that coffee be served at 187 degrees, in flimsy styrofoam cups. A home coffee maker usually keeps the brew between 142 to 162 degrees, and most people pour their Joe into something sturdier than a styrofoam cup. If you spill that coffee on yourself, you have 25 seconds to get it off before you suffer a 3rd degree burn. Whereas if you spill 187-degree coffee on yourself, you’ve got between 2 and 7 seconds.
Companies are expected to produce products that are safe for their intended use. McDonald’s was serving coffee to go, through drive-through windows, with cream and sugar in the bag. By implication, it should be safe to add cream and sugar to hot coffee in a car. In the pre-cup-holder era, millions of Americans were probably steadying their coffees between their legs to add cream and sugar every day. A responsible restaurant would not dispense superheated liquids in flimsy to-go cups. Indeed, McDonalds’ own records showed that 700 people had been scalded this way.
In 1992, the plaintiff was a passenger in a parked car, attempting to add cream and sugar to her coffee while steadying the cup between her knees. When she opened the lid, the cup collapsed inward, dousing her with scalding coffee. The 79-year-old woman sustained 3rd degree burns over 16% of her body. She needed skin grafts to repair the damage. Initially she only sued to recoup part of the cost of the skin grafts. But the judge who heard the case was so outraged by McDonald’s disregard for customer safety that he urged the jury to award punitive damages.
Another theme of Hot Coffee is how medical malpractice caps are forcing taxpayers to cover the medical costs of people who are injured by negligent health care providers.
This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about health care by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Pulse for a complete list of articles on health care reform, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, environment, health care and immigration issues, check out The Audit, The Mulch, and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.by Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger
According to Robin Marty of... more
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Veteran Studio Executive Ellen Pittleman relates what's different about this year's Sundance Film Festival and mentions some key acquisitions.Veteran Studio Executive Ellen Pittleman relates what's different about this... more
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There are plenty of pictures online of Kevin Smith counter protesting the Westboro Baptist Church, but now there's video of the speech he made before airing the film at Sundance. It's really good, another good chatter from the Smith is from Nerdist podcast. http://www.nerdist.com/2011/01/nerdist-podcast-54-kevin-smith/
part two of the video is in the link.There are plenty of pictures online of Kevin Smith counter protesting the Westboro... more
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A look back at some of the biggest hits and misses among notable Sundance Film Festival acquisitions.A look back at some of the biggest hits and misses among notable Sundance Film... more
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Right up until January 17, this year’s Palm Springs International Film Festival will feature a new program highlighting African Cinema as well as films selected to compete for the FIPRESCI Award, New Voices/New Visions Award, and John Schlesinger Awards. The Festival will screen 40 of the 65 official submissions to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Foreign Language Film, and will host it’s own Black Tie Awards Gala at the Palm Springs Convention Center.
Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer will deliver a pre-show keynote address at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show, January 6-9 in Las Vegas. Digital Hollywood sessions at this years CES tackle issues of content anytime, anywhere, on screens of any size, and how new platforms are refreshing approaches for reaching target audiences. On January 6, attend the Media Money Makers reception, co-sponsored by the Scripps Networks, home of HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel and Great American Country. The International CES is produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), a trade association promoting growth in the consumer technology industry, and made up of more than 2,000 corporate members.
In 2003 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science elected to recognize Flickererfest as a qualifying festival for the Best Short film and Best Animation categories of the Academy® Awards. It is also a BAFTA recognized film festival. This year in customary style the festival is conducted mostly outdoors in the Bondi Beach district, January 7-16. Flickerfest's national tour that started in 1995 is also an important part to the festival. The tour takes the main competitive programmes and some special sessions to many regional and metropolitan areas which rarely have an opportunity to view such a collection of the best of the world's short films. Each year the festival director visits festivals around the world seeking new films most of which have not been seen in Australia. There is an opening night screening and party, and a closing night awards ceremony and party.
The 2011 NEA Jazz Masters Awards Ceremony and Concert on January 11 in New York, will honor Hubert Laws, Flutist, David Liebman, Saxophonist, Flutist, Composer, Johnny Mandel, Composer, Arranger, Trumpeter, Trombonist, Orrin Keepnews, jazz producer, and five members of the Marsalis family. Following the ceremony will be the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and special guests performing.
The anticipated annual NAMM music products trade show joining all facets of the music products industry to reveal new musical instruments, products, and ideas to help music products retailers, manufacturers and musicians become more successful, is set for January 13-16 in Anaheim. The NAMM Show features NAMM U sessions, H.O.T. Zone sessions and the NAMM Foundation's "Learning Lounge" events throughout each day. This year in workshops, the NAMM Foundation's "Learning Lounge" offers an array of workshops and sessions exploring music, teaching formats and technology presented by NAMM partners.
BMI will honor Gospel music artists Commissioned, and Pastor Shirley Caesar at their 12th Annual Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards Luncheon. The event in Nashville will be held one day before the 26th Annual Stellar Awards, hosted by ten-time Stellar Award and three-time Grammy award-winning Donnie McClurkin, and taped before a live audience on January 15, and is scheduled for broadcast on the Gospel Music Channel (GMC). The invitation only event will welcome Gospel music’s premier songwriters, recording artists, executives and Gospel music legends.
In gallery exhibition “Musik Abstract”, featured artists include: Ernest Hodnett, Ana Marie Paredes, Ro Rozario, Clifton "Gus" Dickens, Khalid Thompson, Lloyd Chaser and Helene Ruiz (The Urban Individualists). Surreal, Abstract Expressionism and free improvisation are some of the elements that will be conveyed through multi-media artworks. This exhibit will be an arrangement of musical forms of color, lines, shapes and creative independence celebrating color and form that will make for a rhythmic sense of story and feeling and a concept of music through the visual arts. Curated by Helene Ruiz of the Urban Individualists in collaboration with Windmere Gallery, Mechanicsville, the exhibition opens with a reception January 15 and runs through February 12.
Bock Fest features German Bocks and many more winter beers from all over the world showcased in a competitive winter beer event in Los Angeles. The January 15 event boasts the winter beer championship with judges from all around the world to crown a winner. The judging panel includes Food Network's the Tailgate Guy, Jay DiEugenio, FOX reality TV show, Joe Millionaire's Melissa "MoJo" Hunter, beer experts, master brewers, brewery owners, and ordinary beer lovers. Event organizer Talents Connection is seeking individuals to volunteer while also taking part in the fun and activities as well. Interested parties should phone asap, or send email to: talentsconnection(AT)yahoo.com with "Bockfest" in the subject line. Proceeds are donated to local charities.
Known worldwide for its glittering Golden Globe Awards ceremony held every January and its multi-million dollar donations to charity, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Golden Globe Awards have enabled the non-profit organization to donate more than $10.5 million in the past fifteen years to entertainment-related charities. This seasons 68th Annual Golden Globes Awards on January 16 will recognize achievements in 25 categories; 14 in motion pictures and 11 in television. Dick Clark Productions has produced the Golden Globes ceremony since 1983. The Awards will have a live telecast airing on NBC at 8 pm (EST).
Tromso International Film Festival is a popular film festival for the local audiences and at the same time is an important meeting point for the Norwegian and international film industry. The Outdoor Cinema Tromsø International Film Festival is set in the dark polar nights, which give's TIFF the unique possibility to screen films outdoor. The outdoor cinema is located at the main square in the heart of Tromsø. The program, from January 18-23, includes a selection of shorts and documentaries from films from the North, along with screenings and other events. Silence & Noise is a series of silent film concerts during three of the festival nights in January. The chosen films are early German horror classics accompanied to live music by bands prominent on the Norwegian underground music scene.
Sundance Film Festival opens this year in Park City for a run lasting January 20-30. In addition to discovering filmmaking's newest talent through the Festival's program of documentary, dramatic, and short films, Festivalgoers experience live music performances, panel discussions with leading filmmakers and industry figures, cutting-edge media installations, parties celebrating the Festival community, and more. Opening Sundance, An Artist at the Table, is an intimate evening to celebrate independent artists and their work, and will feature a cocktail reception with filmmakers prior to the film screening, dinner and conversations with Sundance Institute artists following film screening, and live entertainment.Right up until January 17, this year’s Palm Springs International Film Festival... more
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Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S.... more
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Veteran Film Acquisitions Executive Ellen Pittleman explains how the AFM is becoming more of a place to begin conversations about new films than to attend screenings.Veteran Film Acquisitions Executive Ellen Pittleman explains how the AFM is becoming... more
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Even when Robert Redford was a new-style superstar, he was old-school in the way he maintained his privacy. He brought a cool, laconic electricity to American movie acting and maintained a public reticence to match. He espoused causes without bullying his listeners or inserting his life too far into the national conversation.
He has always advocated for the arts straight from the heart. But as he displayed in a recent interview with The Baltimore Sun, he's now willing to reveal more of himself to help an aesthetic crusade. He is an impresario and a visionary. When he talks art, it's personal.
On Friday, he will speak to the Half-Century Summit of Americans for the Arts in Baltimore (June 25-27). This group considers itself and Redford's Sundance Preserve "the two pre-eminent national organizations dedicated to advancing the arts and creative industries in the United States." Redford is the summit's honorary chairman. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will open the event. Arianna Huffington will deliver the keynote address. Prior to opening day, John Waters will present a special performance of his one-man show, "This Filthy World," Thursday night at Center Stage. And that's all before the weekend.Even when Robert Redford was a new-style superstar, he was old-school in the way he... more
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For up-to-date info about the Greenest news add us on your Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter accounts. And don’t forget to buy your GreenStock concert passes, tickets are going fast. For ticket prices or vendor information visit GreenStocksRock.com. Have a great day and see you at GreenStock!For up-to-date info about the Greenest news add us on your Facebook, MySpace, or... more
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