Peter Doherty’s new video premiering on Babelgum

He’s the UK’s best-loved “indie laureate”, a charismatic, enigmatic singer songwriter with a unique poetic voice: Peter Doherty recently released his solo album Grace/Wastelands, to widespread critical acclaim.

Broken Love Song is the second single from the album, and Peter chose to première it exclusively here on Babelgum. To accompany it, we also have a never before seen interview with the man himself, two live acoustic performances of Arcady and Lady Don’t Fall Backwards, and some highlights from Peter’s career to date.

Click here to view the selection of videos and find out more.

Peter Doherty

Top 10 Dogbert Moments

If you’re at all familiar with the comic strip Dilbert, then you know all about our fuddy hero’s canine companion, Dogbert. This evil and sarcastic mutt has his hands, erm, paws in whatever it takes to make Dilbert and his coworkers miserable. We all have a Dogbert in our lives, so there’s bound to be a stinger in here that you can identify with someone you know. Deep down, Dogbert probably means well, but then again, he does have plans for world domination. Here are 10 of the moments where Dogbert does what he does best: tells it like it is and takes no prisoners.

1. Banjo Legs – In this clip, Dogbert gives Dilbert a new nickname. Unfortunately, it’s not a flattering one.

dogbert sarcasm2. Supportive Sarcasm – Dogbert helps Dilbert realize new meaning behind the phrase, “you’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t.”

3. Walking the Dog – Dogbert “helps” Dilbert get a date. And by “help,” I mean he makes it nearly impossible.Dogbert1

4. Free Energy – Even though Dilbert shuts down Dogbert’s evil plan, it won’t help after Dilbert goes to sleep.

5.   New Invention – Dilbert, always the inventor, comes up with a way to get rid of all the unpleasant sights in his life. Unfortunately, Dogbert has a way of crushing his Dogbert 3dreams.

6.    Good Morning – During a breakfast chat, Dilbert realizes the perils of the rat race, while Dogbert helps with some sarcastic advice. Also, Dogbert loves sugar.

7.    A More Attractive Him – Dogbert, in a rare moment of consideration and respect, offers Dilbert some sound advice. Then, he ruins it by being a jerk.

8.    Cute – No matter how cute he thinks he is, Dogbert seems to have a way of showing his evil side. He’s like a Chihuahua bred with a Chupacabra. Only less ethnic.

9.   Reboot – Shut up, and reboot. Finally, some sound advice from Dogbert.

dogbert 210. Dogbert for President – With a platform like this, Dogbert might be able to do something about the economic downfall. Also, if you don’t vote for him, the terrorists will win.

The Prodigy, live and exclusive

the prodigy

Who’d have thought that  firestarting big beat legends The Prodigy like to go fabric shopping in between gigs?  Well, that’s just one of the odd titbits revealed in the exclusive documentary and live footage showing now on Babelgum Web and Mobile.

Shot on the road by Dugdale during the band’s explosive “Invaders Must Die” tour earlier this year, the footage delves into the adrenaline pumping world of Liam, Keith, Maxim and the crew as they tour the UK, with a documentary (Part 1 and Part 2).  It also includes backstage interviews with the band, camping tips from Keith Flint, wardrobe crises, alsations on the loose  and some thumping performances filmed live at Wembley, with tracks such as Invaders Must Die and Run With The Wolves.

For more info, links and an interview visit The Prodigy on Babelgum.

Keith Flint backstage

BMVA update: Old Wives’ Tale perform live in London

Old Wives’ Tale are the indie electro-rock band who won the Performance Award in the Babelgum Music Video Awards with their video for catchy single [15]Amphetamine.

And now the time has come for them to “play out” their prize – a gig at the Camden Barfly in London, on Saturday, June 13th. The Miami-based trio (Jaime Valencia - Vox/Guitars/Programming, Juan Felipe Valencia - Vox/Bass/Programming and Pablo Toro on Drums) will be performing alongside three other bands, all from the UK.

The guys are taking the opportunity to hop over to Spain too, to promote their new EP “Younger Limbs” with some gigs over there. Check their website or MySpace for details of the tour and to hear tracks from Younger Limbs - and if you’re in London, maybe we’ll see you at the Barfly this Saturday.

BMVA Performance Award winners

Hard hitting doc series “The End of the Line” released on Babelgum

Film still from The End of the Line

Today, June 8th, is World Oceans Day.  To mark the occasion we’re taking part in a rather special event: the simultaneous Mobile, Online and Theatrical Release of the first major feature documentary to be made on the impact of over fishing: The End of the Line, narrated by Ted Danson and based on the book by Charles Clover.

The exclusive Babelgum presentation of The End of the Line is an original six-part series in which director Rupert Murray takes the viewers behind the scenes and deeper into the issues being raised by this year’s biggest environmental doc, which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary competition.

So before you tuck into your next dish of sushi or fish ‘n’ chips, take a look at this hard-hitting exposé, described by The Economist as “The inconvenient truth about the impact of over-fishing on the oceans”.

Episode 1 is showing on Babelgum as of today, with a new episode being added weekly over the next 6 weeks.

For more info, clips and the trailer see our dedicated page or visit the End of the Line official website, and read the press release here.

New eco documentary on Babelgum

Announcing the winners of the 2nd Babelgum Online Film Festival

We are pleased to announce the winners of our second Online Film Festival, who received their awards last night at an awards ceremony at a private event held during the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.

The Professional Jury Awards were chosen by our panel of film experts Richard Abramowitz, Joe Bateman, Michael Cox, Tiziana Loschi and Carl Spence from the top 10 shortlisted  films that received the most audience votes in each category.

The hand-crafted Murano glass trophies went to:

  • Documentary:  Joseph Cottrell-Boyce for GLUE
  • Animation:  Michael Patrick O’Hara for MR. HAPPY

The Spike Lee Awards, chosen by the director himself from the top 10 shortlisted films, consisted of a cash prize of 20,000 Euros and a trophy. They went to:

  • Animation:  Guy Ben Shetrit for HEY

And the Looking for Genius Award, also chosen by Spike Lee among all the films in the festival, went to Francesco Sperandeo for BAB AL-SAMAH
He also wins 20,000 Euros in cash and a glass trophy.

All of the winning films can be seen on the brand new 2nd Babelgum Online Film Festival Winners channel on Babelgum web and mobile.

Congratulations to all the participants in the festival and to the lucky winners and as always, thanks to all our viewers who voted for their favorite entries over the past couple of months.

For more information about the winning films and the Festival, click here, and to see more photos of the event go to our Flickr page.

Winners & Spike Lee on stage

Bananaz: Online Première now live!

The online première of Ceri Levy’s documentary Bananaz, which goes behind the scenes of the hugely successful virtual band Gorillaz, is live at last on Babelgum web and mobile as of today, April 20th.

You can now watch the 90 min-long doc in all its glory, and go the Bananaz page to find out more about the production, get exclusive downloads, games, pre-order the DVD and take part in the Bananaz competition.

bananaz liven online première

Babelgum Online Film Festival 2: Announcing the Shortlists

Voting for the 2nd Babelgum Online Film Festival closed last Thursday April 2nd at 1pm GMT.

The films receiving the most votes from the audience made it to the shortlist.

All of the shortlisted films (10 entries in each of the four categories) can now be seen here on the Shortlist channel

These films will be judged by Spike Lee and the Professional Jury. For more information on the competition and awards, see the FAQs for details.

“Extinction Sucks”, Babelgum’s second original production

Babelgum has commissioned a second project as part of its digital studio initiative (following our first original production, Downstream, which we presented here on Tuesday). Extinction Sucks is a wildlife series in six parts, and is premiering on Babelgum as of today March 27th .

Made by wildlife doc gurus Off the Fence, the series suggests concrete solutions to the threat of extinction.

It follows the real-life adventures of Aussie conservationist Aleisha Caruso and her friend Ashleigh Young as they find ways to help save endangered species around the world. In each half-hour episode, the girls are challenged to mount an expedition to help a particular species of animal.

The production’s green credentials are further boosted by the involvement of WWF experts, who will be offering information and input on species and locations.

The show already has a strong online presence, with pages on MySpace and Facebook.

Watch the first episode on Asian Elephants now on Our Earth and for more details about the series click here.

Extinction Sucks on Babelgum

The Linguists, the documentary that has everybody talking

Our new exclusive online premiere The Linguists (directed by Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, and Jeremy Newberger) is the feature length documentary that was on everybody’s lips at Sundance 2008.

Half of the world’s languages are heading for extinction, and The Linguists follows two scientist-adventurers as they travel the world in a race to document indigenous tongues that are hanging on by a thread. From Oklahoma to South Africa, the pair meets some of the last remaining speakers of endangered languages around the globe.

Karol Martesko-Fenster, our film publisher, says:

“The filmmakers have crafted a compelling story that weaves travelogue together with the urgent sustainability issue of the world’s disappearing languages. The resulting documentary appeals to film fans and the growing group of linguists worldwide.”

The documentary has screened at scores of film festivals worldwide and recently aired on PBS. It will get its online première on Babelgum web and mobile from April 20th - but you can watch the trailer and a selection of clips now.

The Linguists meet the last Pazih speaker in Taiwan

The Linguists meet the last Pazih speaker in Taiwan