1.
Tokyo
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Tokyo, officially Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan and one of its 47 prefectures. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous area in the world. It is the seat of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government, Tokyo is in the Kantō region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Formerly known as Edo, it has been the de facto seat of government since 1603 when Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters. It officially became the capital after Emperor Meiji moved his seat to the city from the old capital of Kyoto in 1868, Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture and the city of Tokyo. The Tokyo metropolitan government administers the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo, the metropolitan government also administers 39 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture and the two outlying island chains. The population of the wards is over 9 million people. The prefecture is part of the worlds most populous metropolitan area with upwards of 37.8 million people, the city hosts 51 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, the highest number of any city in the world. Tokyo ranked third in the International Financial Centres Development IndexEdit, the city is also home to various television networks such as Fuji TV, Tokyo MX, TV Tokyo, TV Asahi, Nippon Television, NHK and the Tokyo Broadcasting System. Tokyo ranked first in the Global Economic Power Index and fourth in the Global Cities Index. The city is considered a world city – as listed by the GaWCs 2008 inventory – and in 2014. In 2015, Tokyo was named the Most Liveable City in the world by the magazine Monocle, the Michelin Guide has awarded Tokyo by far the most Michelin stars of any city in the world. Tokyo ranked first in the world in the Safe Cities Index, the 2016 edition of QS Best Student Cities ranked Tokyo as the 3rd-best city in the world to be a university student. Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics, the 1979 G-7 summit, the 1986 G-7 summit, and the 1993 G-7 summit, and will host the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tokyo was originally known as Edo, which means estuary. During the early Meiji period, the city was also called Tōkei, some surviving official English documents use the spelling Tokei. However, this pronunciation is now obsolete, the name Tokyo was first suggested in 1813 in the book Kondō Hisaku, written by Satō Nobuhiro. When Ōkubo Toshimichi proposed the renaming to the government during the Meiji Restoration, according to Oda Kanshi, Tokyo was originally a small fishing village named Edo, in what was formerly part of the old Musashi Province. Edo was first fortified by the Edo clan, in the twelfth century
2.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
3.
Film festival
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A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors, films may be of recent date and, depending upon the festivals focus, can include international and domestic releases. Some festivals focus on a specific film-maker or genre or subject matter, a number of film festivals specialise in short films of a defined maximum length. Film festivals are annual events. Some film historians do not consider Film Festivals as official releases of film, the Venice Film Festival is the oldest major festival. The Melbourne International Film Festival is the largest film festival in the Southern Hemisphere, the San Sebastián International Film Festival is one of the most important and oldest film festivals in Europe. It was at this festival where the worldwide first release of North by Northwest was showed, Raindance Film Festival is the UKs largest celebration of independent film-making, and takes place in London in October. Australias first and longest running festival is the Melbourne International Film Festival. Edinburgh International Film Festival is the longest running festival in Great Britain, North Americas first and longest running short film festival is the Yorkton Film Festival, established in 1947. The first film festival in the United States was the Columbus International Film & Video Festival, also known as The Chris Awards and it was followed four years later by the San Francisco International Film Festival, held in March 1957, which emphasized feature-length dramatic films. The festival played a role in introducing foreign films to American audiences. Films in the first year included Akira Kurosawas Throne of Blood, Film festival dedicated to honoring music in film. Digital feature film began in 2005, along with the worlds first online film festival. Unlike other arts nonprofits, film festivals typically receive few donations from the public and are occasionally organized as nonprofit business associations instead of public charities. Film industry members often have significant curatorial input, and corporate sponsors are given opportunities to promote their brand to festival audiences in exchange for cash contributions, private parties, often to raise investments for film projects, constitute significant fringe events. Larger festivals maintain year-round staffs often engaging in community and charitable projects outside festival season, on the other hand, some festivals—usually those accepting fewer films, and perhaps not attracting as many big names in their audiences as do Sundance and Telluride—require no entry fee. Rotterdam Film Festival, Mumbai Film Festival, and many film festivals in the United States, are examples. The Portland International Film Festival charges a fee, but waives it for filmmakers from the Northwestern United States
4.
Shanghai International Film Festival
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The Shanghai International Film Festival, abbreviated SIFF, is one of the largest film festivals in East Asia. Along with Tokyo International Film Festival, the SIFF is one of the biggest film festivals in Asia, the first festival was held from October 7 to 14,1993, and was held until 2001. In 2003 there was no due to the SARS outbreak. Since its beginning in 1993, Shanghai International Film Festival has grown to become an A-category international film festival, SIFF organized by Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture, Radio, Film & TV and Shanghai Media & Entertainment Group. It awards several Golden Goblet Awards for best film, best director, best actor/actress, SIFF Mart consists of the Film Market, China Film Pitch and Catch, and Co-production Film Pitch and Catch. The SIFFORUM is a communication platform, the 14th Shanghai International Film Festival was held from June 11 to June 19,2011 and was chaired by US director Barry Levinson. The most prestigious award given out at Shanghai is the Jin Jue for the Best Feature Film, voted by the reporters in the entertainment industry, the awards are aimed at promoting medium-and-small-budget homegrown movies and exposing talented young directors and actors. Voted by the reporters in the entertainment industry, the awards are aimed at celebrating international action movies and honoring those who have made outstanding contributions to the genre
5.
FIAPF
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The FIAPF based in Paris, created in 1933, is an organization composed with 36 member associations from 30 of the leading audiovisual production countries. FIAPF is also in charge of regulating international film festivals, including some of the worlds most important ones. z. w, the FIAPF categorizes the film festivals as Competitive, Competitive Specialised, Non-Competitive and Documentary/Short Film. The following film festivals have been given competitive status by the FIAPF, Toronto / Toronto International Film Festival Vienna / Vienna International Film Festival The following film festivals are for documentary and short films
6.
Wu Tianming
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Wu Tianming was a Chinese film director and producer who was considered one of the leading Fourth Generation directors. Born in Sanyuan County, Shaanxi Province, China on December 5,1939, in 1960, aged twenty, he was accepted into a training class for film acting run by the Xi’an Film Studio. There were sixteen state-run studios in China at that time, and he was put on the studios payroll and had some bit-parts in the studio’s productions of the early 1960s. In 1966, Maos Cultural Revolution stopped productions in the studios, in 1974-1976, the last three years of the Cultural Revolution, Wu studied at the partly re-opened Beijing Film Academy, majoring in Film Directing. In 1982, Wu co-directed two features at Xi’an with his friend Teng Wenji, afterwards Wu made his debut as a solo director with River Without Buoys. The commercial success of River Without Buouys led to Wu Tianming’s appointment as the new head of Xi’an Film Studio in 1983. ”With his film Life, Wu began a policy of producing movies with deep roots in the regions around Xi’an. Wu insisted on producing a number of films, called tansuo pian to raise aesthetic. Among these films were Tian Zhuangzhuang’s The Horse Thief, shot in Tibet and Gansu, Wu Tianming prevailed due to his commercial success and the international acllaim the sansauo pian films garnered at international film festivals. In 1987, Wu made a deal with the cinematographer of his film, Wu would give Zhang his directorial debut with Red Sorghum in return for starring Zhang starring in Wus film Old Well and supervising the cinematography. Both movies were successful in the China market and achieved considerable international success. When the head of Shaanxi Propaganda Bureau criticized Wu Tianmings policies, he fought back by publicly denouncing him as “a bureaucrat who doesn’t understand films but wants to control filmmaking. ”At Xian Studio he nurtured prominent Fifth Generation directors Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige. Wu came to the United States in 1989 as a scholar at NYU. Wus film An Unusual Love Story was made in 1998, in 2012, Wu returned to his origins as an actor when he starred in the 2012 film Full Circle. Wus final film, The Song of the Phoenix was completed in 2013, Wu Tianming died on March 4,2014 from a heart attack, at the age of 74. Wu Tianming at the Internet Movie Database Wu Tianming at the Chinese Movie Database Wu Tianming Profile at chinaculture. org
7.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
8.
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
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Covering an area of 255,804 km², the SFRY was bordered with Italy to the west, Hungary to the north, Bulgaria and Romania to the east and Albania and Greece to the south. In addition, it included two autonomous provinces within Serbia, Kosovo and Vojvodina, the SFRY traces back to 29 June 1943 when the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia was formed during World War II. On 29 November 1945, the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed after the deposal of King Peter II thus ending the monarchy. Following the death of Tito on 4 May 1980, rising ethnic nationalism in the late 1980s led to dissidence among the multiple ethnicities within the constituent republics. This led to the federation collapsing along the borders, followed by the final downfall and breakup of the federation on 27 April 1992. The term former Yugoslavia is now commonly used retrospectively, the name Yugoslavia, an Anglicised transcription of Jugoslavija, is a composite word made-up of jug and slavija. The Serbo-Croatian, Slovene and Macedonian word jug means south, while slavija denotes a land of the Slavs, thus, a translation of Jugoslavija would be South-Slavia or Land of the South Slavs. The term is intended to denote the lands occupied by the six South Slavic nations, Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Montenegrins, Slovenes, the full official name of the federation varied significantly between 1945 and 1992. Yugoslavia was formed in 1918 under the name Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, the name deliberately left the republic-or-kingdom question open. In 1963, amid pervasive liberal constitutional reforms, the name Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was introduced, the state is most commonly referred to by the latter name, which it held for the longest period of all. The most common abbreviation is SFRY, though SFR Yugoslavia was also used in an official capacity, particularly by the media. On 6 April 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers led by Nazi Germany, by 17 April 1941, Yugoslav resistance was soon established in two forms, the Royal Yugoslav Army and the Yugoslav Partisans. The Partisan supreme commander was Josip Broz Tito, and under his command the movement soon began establishing liberated territories which attracted the attentions of the occupying forces. The coalition of parties, factions, and prominent individuals behind the movement was the Peoples Liberation Front. The Front formed a political body, the Anti-Fascist Council for the Peoples Liberation of Yugoslavia. The AVNOJ, which met for the first time in Partisan-liberated Bihać on 26 November 1942, during 1943, the Yugoslav Partisans began attracting serious attention from the Germans. In two major operations of Fall Weiss and Fall Schwartz, the Axis attempted to stamp-out the Yugoslav resistance once, on both occasions, despite heavy casualties, the Group succeeded in evading the trap and retreating to safety. The Partisans emerged stronger than before and now occupied a significant portion of Yugoslavia
9.
City of Hope (film)
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City of Hope is a 1991 American drama film written and directed by John Sayles. The film features Vincent Spano, Stephen Mendillo and Chris Cooper, as Rinaldi searches for more self-control, he quits the contractors job provided by his father, feeling that major events are about to happen in his life. By the films ending, his life change, as will the lives of many others. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote, City of Hope is a film. It is impossible not to find echoes of its despair on the front pages every day and it asks a hard question, Is it possible for a good person to prevail in a corrupt system, just simply because right is on his side. The answer, in the run, is that power is stronger than right. The notion of a run, of course, is all that keeps hope alive. City of Hope helps us see that community is enriched or torn apart by the decisions we make every day. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 93% of critics gave the film a positive review, wins Tokyo International Film Festival, Tokyo Grand Prix, John Sayles,1991. Political Film Society, PFS Award Democracy and Special Award,1992, kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards, KCFCC Award, Best Screenplay, John Sayles,1992. Independent Spirit Awards, Independent Spirit Award, Best Supporting Male, nominations Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics, Grand Prix,1994. Deauville Film Festival, Critics Award, John Sayles,1991, Independent Spirit Awards, Independent Spirit Award, Best Feature, Sarah Green and Maggie Renzi,1992. The producers used the tagline to market the film, Welcome to the American city. You buy your way in, and you fight your way out, who says its a free country. The film premiered in Baltimore, Boston, and New York City, on October 11,1991, the film was screened at various film festivals, including, the Deauville Film Festival, France, the Tokyo International Film Festival, Japan, and others. City of Hope at the Internet Movie Database City of Hope at AllMovie City of Hope at Rotten Tomatoes City of Hope film trailer on YouTube
10.
John Sayles
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John Thomas Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter, editor, actor and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Passion Fish and his film Men with Guns has been nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. His directorial debut, Return of the Secaucus 7, has added to the National Film Registry. Sayles was born in Schenectady, New York, the son of Mary, a teacher, and Donald John Sayles, both of Sayless parents were of half-Irish descent and were Catholic. Like Martin Scorsese and James Cameron, Sayles began his working with Roger Corman. In 1979, Sayles used $30,000 he earned writing scripts for Corman to fund his first film, the film received near-unanimous critical acclaim at the time and has held its reputation. In 1983, after the films Baby Its You and Lianna and he put the money into the fantasy The Brother from Another Planet, a film about a black, three-toed slave who escapes from another planet and finds himself at home among the people of Harlem. In 1989, Sayles created and wrote the episode for the short-lived television show Shannons Deal about a down-and-out Philadelphia lawyer played by Jamey Sheridan. Sayles received a 1990 Edgar Award for his teleplay for the pilot, the show ran for 16 episodes before being cancelled in 1991. Sayles has funded most of his films by writing scripts, such as Piranha, Alligator, The Howling. Having collaborated with Joe Dante on Piranha and The Howling, Sayles acted in Dantes movie, in deciding whether to take a job, Sayles reports that he is interested mostly in whether there is the germ of an idea for a movie which he would want to watch. Sayles gets the rest of his funding by working as a doctor, he did rewrites for Apollo 13. A genre script, called Night Skies, inspired what would become the film E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial. That films director, Steven Spielberg, later commissioned Sayles to write a script for the fourth Jurassic Park film and he has written and directed his own films, including Lone Star, Passion Fish, Eight Men Out, The Secret of Roan Inish, and Matewan. He serves on the board for the Austin Film Society. Maggie Renzi has been John Sayles long-time companion, but they have not married, Renzi has produced most of his films since Lianna. They met as students at Williams College, Sayles works with a regular repertory of actors, most notably Chris Cooper, David Strathairn, and Gordon Clapp, each of whom has appeared in at least four of his films. In early 2003, Sayles signed the Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience which opposed the invasion of Iraq, in February 2009, Sayles was reported to be writing an HBO series based on the early life of Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
11.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
12.
White Badge
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White Badge is a 1992 South Korean war film directed by Chung Ji-young based on the book White Badge, A Novel of Korea by Ahn Jung-hyo. It depicts the experience of South Korean soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War alongside American troops, White Badge follows the path of two South Korean soldiers as they struggle to deal with their experiences in the Vietnam War. Kiju Han, a journalist, must face his memories of Vietnam as he writes a series of articles on the subject for his local newspaper, the articles attract a fellow veteran, Chinsu Pyon, who begins randomly appearing in Hans life. The film, through a series of flashbacks, depicts both the events in Vietnam and their aftermath in the lives of two soldiers
13.
South Korea
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South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The earliest Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC, with three kingdoms flourishing in the 1st century BC and its rich and vibrant culture left 19 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage Sites. Annexed into Imperial Japan in 1910, Korea was divided after its surrender in 1945, peace has since mostly continued with the two agreeing to work peacefully for reunification and the South solidifying peace as a regional power with the worlds 10th largest defence budget. South Koreas tiger economy soared at an average of 10% for over 30 years in a period of rapid transformation called the Miracle on the Han River. A long legacy of openness and focus on innovation made it successful, today, it is the worlds fifth largest exporter with the G20s largest budget surplus and highest credit rating of any country in East Asia. It has free trade agreements with 75% of the economy and is the only G20 nation trading freely with China, the US. Since 1988, its constitution guarantees a liberal democracy with high government transparency, high personal freedoms led to the rise of a globally influential pop culture such as K-pop and K-drama, a phenomenon called the Korean Wave, known for its distinctive fashionable and trendy style. Home of the UN Green Climate Fund and GGGI, South Korea is a leader in low carbon growth, committed to helping developing countries as a major DAC. It is the third least ignorant country in the Index of Ignorance, ranking eighth highest for peaceful tolerance. It is the worlds largest spender on R&D per GDP, leading the OECD in graduates in science, the name Korea derives from the name Goryeo. The name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After Goryeo was replaced by Joseon in 1392, Joseon became the name for the entire territory. The new official name has its origin in the ancient country of Gojoseon, in 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the official name of the country from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk. The name Daehan, which means great Han literally, derives from Samhan, however, the name Joseon was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under Japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted, there were several groups who fought for independence, the most notable being the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Following the surrender of Japan, in 1945, the Republic of Korea was adopted as the name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the part of the Korean Peninsula
14.
The Blue Kite
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The Blue Kite is a 1993 drama film directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang. Though banned by the Chinese government upon its completion, the soon found a receptive international audience. The film won the Grand Prix at the Tokyo International Film Festival, the story is told from the perspective of a young boy growing up in the 1950s and 1960s in Beijing. The first episode, entitled Father, begins with a wedding between Lin Shaolong and Chen Shujuan in the early 1950s, shortly after the Communist victory, the wedding draws the whole neighborhood, a happy moment that will soon serve as a stark contrast with the years to come. The house and courtyard are shown in a bright light as children play happily together. The couple soon give birth to a son, Tietou, meaning iron head, in these early years Tietous father creates for him a blue kite, a symbol that will remain throughout the film as a sign of better days. The father meanwhile, who works in a library, unbeknown to him, another colleague, Li, also named in this document, was coerced into giving statements against Lin. This soon returns to haunt all of them as the Hundred Flowers movement is followed by the Anti-Rightist Movement and we soon find out that Shujuans older brother was going blind, and will soon be forced to leave the party. The girl he loved also resigned over her refusal to meet with party members in clandestine affairs. Without given cause, simply that she was flaming counter revolutionary thoughts, Shujuans youngest brother, an art school student, was called to task for his critique of the party and shown standing before his fellow students as they rally against him. In one of the films most chilling scenes, Lin Shaolongs workplace has convened a meeting on the issue of who they will have to report to the Communist Party as a rightist in order to meet Maos quota, the father quickly leaves for the bathroom. When he returns, all eyes are on him, it is clear who his colleagues have selected, realizing his terrible mistake of leaving, the father briefly mistreats his son. Tietou, just a boy, is still bitter when his father is sent to a work camp. Shujuans youngest brother was sent to a reeducation camp. The chapter ends when Tietous mother receives a letter, his father has killed by a falling tree. The second episode of the film is entitled uncle and deals with Tietous mothers courtship by Li, her husbands former colleague, Li felt haunted by his role in sending his friend to the work camp which resulted in Lins death. Li spent every moment helping out the mother and child, the episode begins with a group picture during a wedding, with the men wearing blue work uniforms. Much of the episodes palette seems to follow this opening trope as both the courtyard and house are shown in a cold blue, Uncle Li cares for the boys material needs and desires but it soon grows clear that his health is failing
15.
Tian Zhuangzhuang
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Tian Zhuangzhuang is a Chinese film director and producer. Tian was born to an actor and actress in China. Following a short stint in the military, Tian began his career first as an amateur photographer. In 1978, he was accepted to the Beijing Film Academy, from which he graduated in 1982, together with classmates Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou. The class of 1982 collectively would soon gain fame as the so-called Fifth Generation film movement, Tians early career was marked both with avant-garde documentary infused films to more commercial fare. In 1991, Tian began work on an epic about one of modern Chinas darkest moments. This film, The Blue Kite, would result in Tians nearly decade long exile from the film industry. Throughout the 2000s, Tian Zhuangzhuang returned to the fore of Chinese cinema, directing films like the biopic The Go Master and the action film The Warrior. Tian Zhuangzhuang was born on April 23,1952 in Beijing and he was the son of Tian Fang, a famous actor in the 1930s who became head of the Beijing Film Studio after 1949, and Yu Lan, an actress who later ran the Beijing Childrens Film Studio. Given his parents busy jobs as studio chiefs, Tian was raised primarily by his grandmother, but because of the Tians prominence, Tian Zhuangzhuang suffered heavily during the Cultural Revolution, and both his parents were persecuted. Unlike fellow director Chen Kaige, however, Tian never joined the Red Guards, though from a cinema family, Tian did not initially want to follow in the family footsteps. Instead, Tian enlisted in the Peoples Liberation Army in 1968, there he met a war photographer, who introduced him to the camera. Working as a photographer for five years, Tian eventually decided to switch to cinematography, in 1978, after three years at the studio, Tian applied for entrance in the Beijing Film Academy and was accepted. However, he was forced to apply to the department rather than the cinematography department due to his age. While enrolled in the Beijing Film Academy, Tian directed a student film, Our Corner. Technically, Our Corner stands as the first film made by Fifth Generation directors, years later, Our Corner would continue to be screened by professors at the BFA, introducing Tian to new generations of actors and filmmakers. As a result of his role in the making of Our Corner, as well as his experience in film before entering school, upon his graduation in 1982, Tian was assigned to the Beijing Film Studio, though his early career was spent making films for other studios. These included works for television, as well as the childrens film Red Elephant, Tian reached international prominence with a pair of experimental films in the mid-1980s, On the Hunting Ground and The Horse Thief, both about ethnic minorities in China
16.
Hong Kong
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Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia. Macau lies across the delta to the west, and the Chinese province of Guangdong borders the territory to the north. With a total area of 1,106 square kilometres. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during World War II until British control resumed in 1945, under the principle of one country, two systems, Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative, in addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of appropriate fields. Hong Kong is one of the worlds most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the worlds most competitive and freest economic entity. As the worlds 8th largest trading entity, its legal tender, Hong Kongs tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by simple taxation with a competitive level of corporate tax and supported by its independent judiciary system. However, while Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and it has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the worlds longest life expectancy. Over 90% of the population use of well-developed public transportation. Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring areas of Mainland China. Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island, before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour, literally means Little Hong Kong)—between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was a point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen. Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time, fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbours fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour, the name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926. Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric. As of 1997, its name is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. This is the title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law. Hong Kong has carried many nicknames, the most famous among those is the Pearl of the Orient, which reflected the impressive nightscape of the citys light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour
17.
Kolya
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Kolya is a 1996 Czech drama film about a man whose life is reshaped in an unexpected way. The film was directed by Jan Svěrák and stars his father, Zdeněk Svěrák, Kolya earned critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The film begins in 1988 as the Soviet bloc is beginning to disintegrate, františek Louka, a middle-aged Czech man dedicated to bachelorhood and the pursuit of women, is a concert cellist struggling to eke out a living by playing funerals at the Prague crematorium. He has lost his previous job at the Czech Philharmonic, having been blacklisted as politically unreliable by the authorities. A friend offers him a chance to earn a deal of money through a sham marriage to a Russian woman to enable her to stay in Czechoslovakia. The woman then uses her new citizenship to emigrate to West Germany, due to a concurrence of circumstances, she has to leave behind her 5-year-old son, Kolya, for the disgruntled Czech musician to look after. At first Louka and Kolya have communication difficulties, as they dont speak each others languages, gradually, though, a bond forms between Louka and Kolya. The child suffers from suspected meningitis and has to be placed on a course of carefully monitored antibiotics, Louka is threatened with imprisonment for his suspect marriage and the child may be placed in a Russian childrens home. The Velvet Revolution intervenes though, and Kolya is reunited with his mother, Louka and Kolya say their goodbyes. Bachelor Louka ends up fathering a child with his girlfriend - perhaps a replacement for lost Kolya - and regains his position as a virtuoso with the philharmonic orchestra. The film was successful on a release from 24 January 1997 and had taken about $5.73 million by 11 July that year after an opening weekend gross on three screens of $37,795. In the Czech Republic, the country of origin, over 1.34 million visitors made the movie one of the most successful movies ever. In Germany more than 624,000 tickets were sold for the film
18.
Czech Republic
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The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a nation state in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres with mostly temperate continental climate and it is a unitary parliamentary republic, has 10.5 million inhabitants and the capital and largest city is Prague, with over 1.2 million residents. The Czech Republic includes the territories of Bohemia, Moravia. The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire, after the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, reimposed Roman Catholicism, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, and was liberated in 1945 by the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States. The Czech country lost the majority of its German-speaking inhabitants after they were expelled following the war, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections. Following the 1948 coup détat, Czechoslovakia became a one-party communist state under Soviet influence, in 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed, on 6 March 1990, the Czech Socialistic Republic was renamed to the Czech Republic. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, it is a member of the United Nations, the OECD, the OSCE, and it is a developed country with an advanced, high income economy and high living standards. The UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development, the Czech Republic also ranks as the 6th most peaceful country, while achieving strong performance in democratic governance. It has the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union, the traditional English name Bohemia derives from Latin Boiohaemum, which means home of the Boii. The current name comes from the endonym Čech, spelled Cžech until the reform in 1842. The name comes from the Slavic tribe and, according to legend, their leader Čech, the etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning member of the people, kinsman, thus making it cognate to the Czech word člověk. The country has traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the southeast, and Czech Silesia in the northeast. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the Czech part of the former nation found itself without a common single-word geographical name in English, the name Czechia /ˈtʃɛkiə/ was recommended by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
19.
The Perfect Circle
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The Perfect Circle is a 1997 Bosnian film by Ademir Kenović set in Sarajevo during the siege of 1992-1996. It was written by Kenović with Pjer Žalica and the famous Bosnian poet Abdulah Sidran, the set designer was Kemal Hrustanović. The title derives from the ability of Hamza to draw perfect circles on paper, a Bosnian poet lives with his family in Sarajevo during the hard times in the horrific siege of the city. The war in Bosnia is raging all around them, after sending his wife and daughter to Croatia, he finds two orphans Adis and Kerim, who escaped a massacre in their own village, hiding in his home. After escaping their village they have come to Sarajevo in search of their aunt, Hamza decides to help the boys by sheltering them and helping them look for their aunt. After a long search, Hamza discovers that the aunt has been airlifted to Germany. Upon learning this Hamza tries to save the kids by sending out of the war zone. But the only way out is through the Sarajevo International Airport, as they try to cross and take refuge from Serb shelling in a building, a Serb soldier shoots the dog that Adis and Kerim have adopted. Kerim kills two Serbs as they are approaching Hamza and him, outside of the building, Hamza and Kerim find Adis, who has died. They take him to the cemetery to be buried, on the wooden headstone placed on the grave, Kerim writes Adis, and encircles the name. In many scenes Hamza is seen with the two kids speaking monologues, while observing photos of his wife and daughter, all the poetry cited in the film by Hamza are verses written by Abdulah Sidran, renowned Bosnian writer and poet
20.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, in short, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeastern Europe located on the Balkan Peninsula. Sarajevo is the capital and largest city, in the central and eastern interior of the country the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and the northeast is predominantly flatland. The inland is a larger region and has a moderate continental climate, with hot summers and cold. The southern tip of the country has a Mediterranean climate and plain topography, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a region that traces permanent human settlement back to the Neolithic age, during and after which it was populated by several Illyrian and Celtic civilizations. Culturally, politically, and socially, the country has a rich history, the Ottomans brought Islam to the region, and altered much of the cultural and social outlook of the country. This was followed by annexation into the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which lasted up until World War I. In the interwar period, Bosnia was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and after World War II, following the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the country proclaimed independence in 1992, which was followed by the Bosnian War, lasting until late 1995. The country is home to three ethnic groups or, officially, constituent peoples, as specified in the constitution. Bosniaks are the largest group of the three, with Serbs second and Croats third, a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regardless of ethnicity, is identified in English as a Bosnian. The terms Herzegovinian and Bosnian are maintained as a rather than ethnic distinction. Moreover, the country was simply called Bosnia until the Austro-Hungarian occupation at the end of the 19th century, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a bicameral legislature and a three-member Presidency composed of a member of each major ethnic group. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is itself complex and consists of 10 cantons, additionally, the country has been a member of the Council of Europe since April 2002 and a founding member of the Mediterranean Union upon its establishment in July 2008. The name is believed to have derived from the hydronym of the river Bosna coursing through the Bosnian heartland. According to philologist Anton Mayer the name Bosna could be derived from Illyrian Bass-an-as which would be a diversion of the Proto-Indo-European root bos or bogh, meaning the running water. According to English medievalist William Miller the Slavic settlers in Bosnia adapted the Latin designation Basante, to their own idiom by calling the stream Bosna, the name Herzegovina originates from Bosnian magnate Stephen Vukčić Kosačas title, Herceg of Hum and the Coast. Hum, formerly Zahumlje, was a medieval principality that was conquered by the Bosnian Banate in the first half of the 14th century. Bosnia is located in the western Balkans, bordering Croatia to the north and west, Serbia to the east and it has a coastline about 20 kilometres long surrounding the city of Neum. It lies between latitudes 42° and 46° N, and longitudes 15° and 20° E, the countrys name comes from the two regions Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have a very vaguely defined border between them
21.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
22.
Open Your Eyes (1997 film)
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Abre los ojos is a 1997 Spanish film co-written, co-scored and directed by Alejandro Amenábar and co-written by Mateo Gil. It stars Eduardo Noriega, Penélope Cruz, Fele Martínez and Najwa Nimri, in 2002, Open Your Eyes was ranked No.84 in the Top 100 Sci-Fi List by the Online Film Critics Society. The movies intersecting planes of dream and reality have prompted critics to suggest comparisons to Calderóns play Life Is a Dream. An American remake entitled Vanilla Sky, directed by Cameron Crowe, was released in 2001, a young, handsome man wakes up to a female voice telling him to open his eyes. He drives to an empty city and he wakes up again, this time to a woman in his bed. He tells her not to leave messages on his alarm, from a prison cell in Madrid, the 25-year-old man, César, tells his story to psychiatrist Antonio while wearing a prosthetic mask. Flashbacks reveal the events, good-looking César is attractive to women. At his birthday party, he flirts with Sofía, a classmate of his best friend, later on, he takes her home and stays the night, although they do not sleep together. The next morning, Césars obsessive ex-lover Nuria pulls up outside Sofías flat, offering him a ride, on the way to her home, however, she crashes the car with the intent to kill them both. César is horribly disfigured, beyond the help of cosmetic surgery, Sofía cannot bear to see him and tries to keep the distance. After Césars disfigurement, he begins to have a series of disorienting experiences, drunk, César falls asleep in the street. On awakening, everything has changed, Sofía now claims to love him, but as he makes love to Sofía one night, she suddenly changes into Nuria. Horrified, César smothers her with a pillow, yet finds everyone else believes Nuria was indeed the woman everyone else calls Sofía, while he is confined to the prison, fragments of his past return to him as if in a dream. He had committed suicide at home after sleeping drunk on the street and his experiences from about the midpoint of the movie onwards have been a dream, spliced retroactively into his actual life and replacing his true memories. At the end of the film he elects to wake up, Eduardo Noriega as César, a young confident man, who has money and success with women. The day after his party, the main character gets into a car accident which destroys his face. After such a trauma, he never be the same again. Fele Martínez as Pelayo, Césars best friend, whose personality is marked by his inferiority complex when it comes to meeting women, Penélope Cruz as Sofía, the woman César falls in love with right before his car accident
23.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
24.
Taiwan
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Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, is a state in East Asia. Neighbours include China to the west, Japan to the northeast, Taiwan is the most populous state that is not a member of the United Nations, and the one with the largest economy. The island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, was inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before the 17th century. After a brief rule by the Kingdom of Tungning, the island was annexed by the Qing dynasty, the Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 after the Sino-Japanese War. While Taiwan was under Japanese rule, the Republic of China was established on the mainland in 1912 after the fall of the Qing dynasty, following the Japanese surrender to the Allies in 1945, the ROC took control of Taiwan. However, the resumption of the Chinese Civil War led to the ROCs loss of the mainland to the Communists, and the flight of the ROC government to Taiwan in 1949. As a founding member of the United Nations, the ROC continued to represent China at the United Nations until 1971, in the early 1960s, Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic growth and industrialization, creating a stable industrial economy. In the 1980s and early 1990s, it changed from a one-party military dictatorship dominated by the Kuomintang to a multi-party democracy with universal suffrage, Taiwan is the 22nd-largest economy in the world, and its high-tech industry plays a key role in the global economy. It is ranked highly in terms of freedom of the press, health care, public education, economic freedom, the PRC has consistently claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and asserted the ROC is no longer in legitimate existence. Under its One-China Policy the PRC refused diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes the ROC, the PRC has threatened the use of military force in response to any formal declaration of independence by Taiwan or if PRC leaders decide that peaceful unification is no longer possible. There are various names for the island of Taiwan in use today, the former name Formosa dates from 1542, when Portuguese sailors sighted the main island of Taiwan and named it Ilha Formosa, which means beautiful island. The name Formosa eventually replaced all others in European literature and was in use in English in the early 20th century. This name was adopted into the Chinese vernacular as the name of the sandbar. The modern word Taiwan is derived from this usage, which is seen in forms in Chinese historical records. Use of the current Chinese name was formalized as early as 1684 with the establishment of Taiwan Prefecture, through its rapid development, the entire Formosan mainland eventually became known as Taiwan. The official name of the state is the Republic of China and it was a member of the United Nations representing China until 1971, when it lost its seat to the Peoples Republic of China. Over subsequent decades, the Republic of China has become known as Taiwan. In some contexts, especially ones from the ROC government
25.
Amores perros
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Amores perros is a 2000 Mexican drama thriller film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. Amores perros is the first installment in González Iñárritus Trilogy of Death, succeeded by 21 Grams and it is a triptych, an anthology film, containing three distinct stories which are connected by a car accident in Mexico City. Each of the three tales is also a reflection on the cruelty of humans towards both animals and other humans, showing how humans may live dark or even hideous lives, but the films theme is loyalty, as symbolized by the dog, mans best friend. The film was released under its Spanish title in the English-speaking world, the soundtrack included songs by well-known Latin American rock bands, such as Café Tacuba, Control Machete, and Bersuit Vergarabat. Amores perros was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2000, the film is constructed from three distinct stories linked by a car accident that brings the characters briefly together. Octavio y Susana The first segment stars Gael García Bernal and Vanessa Bauche as the title characters, Susana is Octavios sister-in-law, however, Octavio is in love with her and does not like the way his brother, Ramiro, treats her. Octavio tries to persuade her to run away with him to get out from under Ramiros abuse, every time there is a fight, Jarocho enters a new dog, and everytime, Cofi kills it. After more than fifteen fights, Octavio makes enough money to run away with Susana, in revenge, Ramiro steals the money and leaves with his wife. Struggling financially, Octavio accepts a challenge by Jarocho to participate in a private fight, Octavios dog wins, but Jarocho shoots Cofi. In revenge, Octavio stabs Jarocho in the stomach, pursued by Jarochos thugs, Octavio finds himself in a car chase with Jorge, and the wounded dog. A collision follows, Jorge dies and Octavio is badly injured, Daniel y Valeria The next segment stars Álvaro Guerrero and Goya Toledo. Daniel is a magazine publisher who leaves his family to live with his lover. On the day they move together, Valerias leg is broken in the accident with Octavios car. Valeria is using a wheelchair while she recuperates in the apartment she shares with Daniel, one day, her dog Richie disappears under a broken floorboard and stays there for days. Her doctor is forced to amputate the leg, removing any chance she might have had at returning to her modeling career, while she is in the hospital, Daniel rescues Richie from the floorboards. El Chivo y Maru The final segment stars Emilio Echevarría and Lourdes Echevarría, the story follows the bedraggled vagrant that appears several times in the previous segments, pushing a junk cart accompanied by several mongrel dogs for whom he cares. Though he appears to live in squalor in an abandoned warehouse, he is in fact a professional hitman. When he got out, Leonardo started getting him jobs as a hitman, at times throughout the story, El Chivo tries to make contact with his daughter, Maru, whom he abandoned when she was a two-year-old child when he began his guerrilla involvement
26.
Mexico
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Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a federal republic in the southern half of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States, to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean, to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea, and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometers, Mexico is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total area, Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and a federal district that is also its capital and most populous city. Other metropolises include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana, pre-Columbian Mexico was home to many advanced Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya and Aztec before first contact with Europeans. In 1521, the Spanish Empire conquered and colonized the territory from its base in Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Three centuries later, this territory became Mexico following recognition in 1821 after the colonys Mexican War of Independence. The tumultuous post-independence period was characterized by instability and many political changes. The Mexican–American War led to the cession of the extensive northern borderlands, one-third of its territory. The Pastry War, the Franco-Mexican War, a civil war, the dictatorship was overthrown in the Mexican Revolution of 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the countrys current political system. Mexico has the fifteenth largest nominal GDP and the eleventh largest by purchasing power parity, the Mexican economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, especially the United States. Mexico was the first Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and it is classified as an upper-middle income country by the World Bank and a newly industrialized country by several analysts. By 2050, Mexico could become the fifth or seventh largest economy. The country is considered both a power and middle power, and is often identified as an emerging global power. Due to its culture and history, Mexico ranks first in the Americas. Mexico is a country, ranking fourth in the world by biodiversity. In 2015 it was the 9th most visited country in the world, Mexico is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G8+5, the G20, the Uniting for Consensus and the Pacific Alliance. Mēxihco is the Nahuatl term for the heartland of the Aztec Empire, namely, the Valley of Mexico, and its people, the Mexica and this became the future State of Mexico as a division of New Spain prior to independence. It is generally considered to be a toponym for the valley became the primary ethnonym for the Aztec Triple Alliance as a result. After New Spain won independence from Spain, representatives decided to name the new country after its capital and this was founded in 1524 on top of the ancient Mexica capital of Mexico-Tenochtitlan
27.
Slogans (film)
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Slogans is a 2001 Albanian film directed by Gjergj Xhuvani. It was the first Albanian film to be selected to screen on the Directors Fortnight at Cannes Filmfestival 2001 and has gone on to win many other festival awards. It was further Albanias submission to the 74th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the film presents the ideological brainwashing that characterized the life of Albanians during the times of the communist Enver Hoxha regime. The protagonist is Andrea, a young and liberal-minded school teacher, as a teacher he needs to participate in constructions of socialist and patriotic slogans on the slopes of a hill in the village. He does not take this very seriously and for this he is continuously scorned by the villages Communist party officials. Cinema of Albania List of submissions to the 74th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film Slogans at the Internet Movie Database
28.
Albania
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Albania, officially the Republic of Albania, is a country in Southeastern Europe. It has a population of 3.03 million as of 2016, Tirana is the nations capital and largest city, followed by Durrës and Vlorë. The country has a coastline on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea to the west. Albania is less than 72 km from Italy, across the Strait of Otranto which connects the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea. In antiquity, the area of Albania was home to several Illyrian, Thracian. After the Illyrian Wars, it part of the Roman provinces of Dalmatia, Macedonia and Moesia Superior. In 1190, the first Albanian state, the Principality of Arbanon was established by archon Progon in the region of Krujë, the territory of Albania was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, of which it remained part of for the next five centuries. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in Europe, following the Balkan Wars, the Kingdom of Albania was invaded by Italy in 1939, which formed Greater Albania, before becoming a Nazi German protectorate in 1943. The following year, a socialist Peoples Republic was established under the leadership of Enver Hoxha, Albania experienced widespread social and political transformations in the communist era, as well as isolation from much of the international community. In 1991, the Socialist Republic was dissolved and the Republic of Albania was established, Albania is a democratic and developing country with an upper-middle income economy. The service sector dominates the economy, followed by the industrial. After the fall of communism in Albania, Free-market reforms have opened the country to foreign investment, especially in the development of energy, Albania has a high HDI and provides universal health care system and free primary and secondary education to its citizens. Albania is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the Council of Europe, the OSCE and it is also an official candidate for membership in the European Union. Albania is one of the members of the Energy Community, Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. It is home to the largest lake in Southern Europe and one of the oldest lakes in Europe, Albania is the Medieval Latin name of the country. The name may have a continuation in the name of a settlement called Albanon and Arbanon. During the Middle Ages, the Albanians called their country Arbëri or Arbëni, Albanians today call their country Shqipëri. As early as the 17th century the placename Shqipëria and the ethnic demonym Shqiptarë gradually replaced Arbëria, the two terms are popularly interpreted as Land of the Eagles and Children of the Eagles
29.
Broken Wings (film)
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Broken Wings is a 2002 Israeli film directed by Nir Bergman and starring Orly Silbersatz Banai, Maya Maron, and Nitai Gaviratz. The unexpected death of the family patriarch throws every member of the Ullmann clan off course, widow Dafna takes to bed for three months and when she finally returns to her job at the maternity hospital, she has little time for her children. Eldest son, Yair drops out of school and adopts a fatalist attitude, shutting out his siblings and his twin sister Maya, a talented musician, feels the most guilt and is forced to act as a family caregiver at the expense of career opportunities. Bullied at school, younger son Ido responds by obsessively filming himself with a video camera, the baby sister, Bar, is woefully neglected. Preoccupied with their own misery, the family is barely a family anymore, when another tragedy strikes, will they be able to support one another. Broken Wings at the Internet Movie Database
30.
Israel
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Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The country contains geographically diverse features within its small area. Israels economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, next year, the Jewish Agency declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and it extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is the worlds longest military occupation in modern times, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed, the population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2017 to be 8,671,100 people. It is the worlds only Jewish-majority state, with 74. 8% being designated as Jewish, the countrys second largest group of citizens are Arabs, at 20. 8%. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins, other minorities include Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Black Hebrew Israelites, Circassians, Maronites and Samaritans. Israel also hosts a significant population of foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, including illegal migrants from Sudan, Eritrea. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish, Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature, Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2016. The country benefits from a skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, in the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term Israeli to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett. The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The name Israel in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, jacobs twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. The earliest known artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt. The area is known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam
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Nuan
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Nuan is a 2003 Chinese film directed by Huo Jianqi. The film won the Grand Prix at the 16th Tokyo International Film Festival, the film is an adaptation of author Mo Yans short story, The White Dog and the Swing. The film is set in Maoyuan, a small and ancient village in Jiangxi, Nuans production was delayed by the outbreak of SARS in 2002-2003, making it miss a planned debut at the Venice Film Festival that September. Like Huos Postmen in the Mountains, Nuan is a rural drama, the film follows Lin Jinghe, a young man who, for the last ten years, has been living in the big city. When he returns home, he runs into his childhood love, years earlier, Nuan and Jinghe had been schoolmates. Nuan, the most popular girl in school, had fallen in love with an acrobat from a traveling troupe, when the acrobat eventually abandons her, Nuan finds herself drawn to Jinghe. One day, while playing with Jinghe, Nuan is permanently injured when she falls off a swing, Jinghe, seeing an opportunity to escape the small village heads to the city, but promises that he will be back for Nuan. Like the acrobat, however, he forgets about his childhood love. Now, ten years later, he has finally returned, Nuan, however, has married a local mute. Actor Guo Xiaodong plays Lin Jinghe, the boy who has spent the last ten years in the city. His return to his childhood village drives Nuans narrative, Li Jia plays the title character of Nuan, Jinghes childhood love. Like Guo Xiaodong, Li Jia was a newcomer to the movie industry, the veteran Japanese actor would go on to win the Best Actor award at the Tokyo International Film Festival for his role in Nuan. Guan Xiaotong as Ya, Li Jias daughter, Nuan at the Internet Movie Database
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Whisky (film)
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Whisky is an Uruguayan tragicomedy film directed by Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll and released in 2004. The film stars Andrés Pazos, Mirella Pascual, Jorge Bolani, Ana Katz and it has very sparse dialogue and the three principal actors play very straight roles showing little emotion. It was premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Un Certain Regard, Jacobo and Martas lives are very dull and repetitious. It takes some time to realize that Jacobo asks Marta because he has no one else to ask, why Marta agrees is another matter. Marta is keen to go and Jacobo reluctantly agrees, during the holiday Marta and Herman become closer and the suggestion develops that they may actually have feelings for each other. Jacobo remains cold and unemotional towards both the characters and seems keen for the experience to end. Just before he is due to go home Herman gives Jacobo a sum of money as compensation for the time that he lost by having to care for their mother. Jacobo is initially unwilling to accept it, but takes the money after witnessing Herman sing a love song towards Marta in a Karaoke restaurant that the three visit. Later that night Jacobo goes alone to a casino, placing all the money on Black 24 in a game of roulette and he keeps some of the money, but wraps the larger part up as a present. As they say goodbye to Herman, Marta presses a note into his hand telling him to read it on the plane. When they get home, Jacobo calls a taxi for Marta. The following morning she does not turn up for work, although Jacobo goes through the routine as always. Hogan as Young Beggar The film was first presented at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival on May 19 and it was awarded the Colón de Oro at the Festival de Cine Iberoamericano de Huelva. The film was received by film critics and at the film festival it was screened. Whisky at the Internet Movie Database Whisky at AllMovie
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