Masala y Maíz: All About Liberty

Black Hat, White Hat: The Legendary Hacker Hieu PC

Hieu was one of the world’s most prolific and hunted criminals from 2007 to 2013, when he operated a massive international identity theft scheme from his home in Vietnam. His method was to steal personally identifiable information (names, Social Security numbers, bank account data) and sell it to become rich. 100,000 USD a month rich; 900 x the average Vietnamese monthly salary at the time. Hieu was pursued relentlessly by the Secret Service, until his eventual capture in Guam in 2013. After years in prison, he was granted early release, returning him to his family in Saigon. In that time he transformed, in spirit and ethics, which led to his current role with the Vietnamese government capturing criminals just like his former self. This is his story, and his incredible redemptive arc.

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There is a Sifu hidden in the hills of Monterey Park who remains a true guardian of tradition and community 🥋🌟 He dedicates his time to training the next generation of martial artists, teaching kids not only self-defense but also the rich cultural heritage that comes with it. As the community has grappled with change, triumph and tragedy, this community of mostly kids holds on to a ritual and practice that keeps the diasporic community connected to their ancestry and home countries. What’s more? The classes are free in an effort to keep as many people practicing as possible.

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Subtle Asian Traits Is More Than Just a Facebook Group

Subtle Asian Traits isn’t just a Facebook group– it’s a growing community where Asians from around the world feel like there’s a place for them. Whether you’re Simu Liu, Hasan Minhaj or any other of the group’s nearly 2 million members, here, you'll discover the most niche memes about the little aspects of Asian culture – and the Asian diaspora in particular – that are often overlooked. Like the tradition of removing shoes when entering a house or the experience of always having your name mispronounced at Starbucks. And the reason why the group is so successful? Humor. Lighthearted and fun, the space binds thousands of people together through what is common and funny to them. But that doesn’t come without its challenges. When moderating such a large group, the group’s nine founders – Chinese-Australian students from Melbourne – have run into a few problems. “Why are you only representing Chinese culture?” “You need to speak out about more issues.” “Asians are not a monolith.” Despite issues of representation, co-founders Kathleen and Tony are trying their best to honor all identities. They strive to make sure the members have a good relationship with the group, that it’s a welcoming space for all and somewhere people are not afraid to be who they really are.

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Across the Border: Why Women Are Being Trafficked Into China

China’s one child policy led to 30 million more men than women in the past 36 years, which has directly driven up bride trafficking from neighboring countries. Like Lào Cai, on the border of Vietnam: this mountainous rural province is a hotspot for human trafficking. Girls and women are tricked in various ways–from friends inviting them to a birthday party to promises of higher paying jobs–only to end up in forced marriages, unable to escape, subject to the behaviour of their husbands. Compassion House in Lào Cai is a long-term shelter for female trafficking survivors, and since 2010 they have supported nearly 300 women and girls–some as young as 12 years old. Every year, human traffickers earn over 150B USD, third only to drugs and weapon trafficking. According to the UN, only 1% of all victims of human trafficking are rescued globally. Here are some stories from survivors who escaped.

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Manila’s Butterboy Changed the Drag Scene

Though Filipino queerness dates back as early as pre-colonial times, the portrayal of drag was limited until shows like Drag Den became mainstream. This acceptance led to Butterboy cafe in #Manila, where brunch includes delicious food and drag. Today, as more people are celebrating drag as an art form, Butterboy has become the place for Saturday drag brunches. Their performers gloat about the caring staff, intimate environment, and incredibly supportive brunch-goers. In fact, they say they feel more appreciated at Butterboy than they do in night light–and are even treated like celebrities. Co-owners of Butterboy, Hildebrand Demeterio and Jayson So originally fantasized about a cafe that would serve as a safe place for queer talent. Today, their dreams have been filled with support, love, and a community that never existed before.

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World’s Largest Startup Competition Founded by Asians

Extreme Tech Challenge is the largest startup competition in the world, and it’s founded by two Asian men. Young Sohn and Bill Tai defied parental and societal expectations to become successful venture capitalists that are now funding the next generation of tech entrepreneurs. Every year, XTC receives nearly 5,000 applications ranging from Silicon Valley and Mumbai to Singapore, Dubai and Berlin. This community is made for people building tech innovations that will impact the world for greater good–and since 2015, there has been over $3.5B in funding raised for finalists. But Young and Bill fought to get here. In fact, Young’s mother raised him to understand that while Asians could be engineers, their bosses would be white men. And when Bill dropped out of Princeton, bypassed Harvard, and drove to California to work for a startup, his father told him he didn’t know what he was doing. These two visionaries care most to show people that innovative ideas can come from anywhere, and there are no boundaries–something they’ve both proven.

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In Indonesia, the government-appointed position of 'Spiritual Guardian' tends to Mount Merapi volcano both physically and spiritually. That’s because Mount Merapi is believed to be more than a volcano–it’s a creature of God. Mbah Asih is the Spiritual Guardian of Mount Merapi. The role of the spiritual guardian is to carry forth the traditions of ancestors, especially the culture of treating a volcano as a sacred site. Before him, Asih’s father was the spiritual guardian until he died in the historic 2010 volcano eruption that killed 37 people and left 300,000 displaced. Instead of seeing Merapi’s eruption as a disastrous event, Indonesians believe that it is “tidying up”. It wants things as they ought to be–clean and protected. When society litters and villages damage the natural environment, nature revitalizes. Asih reminds us that mankind is powerless, and able to survive only when we live in harmony with nature—in their context, with their sacred volcano, Merapi.

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The Chinese-American Making Japanese City Pop

Looking for music from people that looked like him or grew up like him, Ginger Root (AKA Cameron Lew) fell in love with Japanese pop music. When he started making music,he would perform to audiences of 8 people–max. Today, he’s sold out Tokyo Liquidroom and hit milestones he didn’t even know existed. A reminder that music doesn't have borders, this Chinese kid from Huntington Beach, California plays music inspired by Japan that was inspired by America. Also a filmmaker, Ginger Root’s visuals are as good as his music.

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South Asian and Mexican foods aren’t typically perceived as valuable, or worth more than ‘cheap eats’. That’s why Saqib Keval and Norma Listman created Masala y Maiz: to bring food back to community, where it’s valued. But there are complexities–Mexico City is undergoing a gentrification crisis, rising rent and erasing Spanish in some areas, and many customers are seeking out hotspot restaurants like Masala y Maiz. Mexico City is so fed up with gentrifying Americans that flyers are popping up: “New to the city? Working remotely? You’re a f—ing plague and the locals f—ing hate you. Leave.” Masala y Maiz is countering this by completely reimagining how their restaurant runs: they employ a collective leadership model in the restaurant, and everything from their wine to corn is sourced ethically and specifically – often from female owned and indigenous companies. Gentrification is just one of many challenges Masala y Maiz has risen to meet and overcome over the years: from attempted extortions by government agencies, being shut down, and ongoing corruption and bureaucracy in the food industry. Not only have they refused to pay the bribes, they’re bringing community back to the industry and to Mexico City.

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Monterey Park: How Do We Heal Our Community?

TW: gun violence & PTSD⚠️ When a 72-year-old Chinese man shot and killed 10 people on the eve of Lunar New Year in Monterey Park, after the years of Asian hate we’ve experienced, many were quick to assume it was a hate crime. Today, the Asian community is considering the tragedy as an alert to destigmatize mentalhealth and heal--especially for men. Many people, especially after Covid and the isolation it forced, are going through the hardest, loneliest times of their lives. The Monterey Park killer had indicated clear signs of paranoia, reporting to police twice in January that someone was trying to poison him. He was in emotional turmoil, had no support system, and owned a lot of guns. As PTSD riddles our communities, who have seen war, dictatorship, famine, genocide, and poverty, we are expected to be “good” because we are in America now. But without acknowledging our feelings, suppressing and internalizing will only lead to detrimental — and sometimes dangerous — outcomes. Not only do we face a communal and cultural issue with lack of vulnerability and sharing, our men are socialized to be angry and avoidant–not intimate or safe. Will we finally put down the “boys don’t cry” mindset and begin to heal?

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What 56 Years Taught This Painter About Anger

Gabby is a 56-year-old transracial adoptee, who describes her past self as the angriest, most bitter person. Today, that’s far from what you’ll feel when you experience her work, which is rooted in healing and joy. Ching Ching, a childhood taunt she heard from bullies, became a series of work Gabby made in 2014, where integrated Chinese porcelain to pay homage to her roots. Gabby has reconciled that her life experiences as a Chinese New Zealander was and will be different from her family’s, who are all white. She’s also connected with more adoptees and bi-racial folk who can relate to her story. Her art is not only making up for the years she denied her heritage, she’s creating a legacy for herself and the communities she cares for. Color: Haruka Motohashi

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The Indo Punk Band Raging Against Cement Industry

Meet farmer and activist Bagus and his Kendeng Squad, who use punk rock to highlight the environmental destruction to the Kendeng Mountains in Indonesia. The mountains, home to karst and limestone deposits, are shrinking while operations continue mining cement for profit. Backed by the state and international investors, Indonesia’s largest cement companies began detonating mountains to mine limestone in the early 2010’s. Since then, the Kendeng mountains have become a center of conflict, giving birth to countless struggles of land ownership. From protests to punk bands, people are standing up to fight against what is happening in their home. Some have gone so far as to pour cement on their feet, in order to hold President Jokowi accountable for allowing Indonesia’s state-owned enterprises to destroy their mountains. Kendeng Squadwrite and perform songs about preserving their natural environment with songs like ‘Berani Bertani’ (Dare to Farm). Their message: This is ‘the farming city’, not ‘the industrial city’. Today, locals like Bagus question the Indonesian government’s loyalty, while they continue to give mining permits and build factories, bulldozing mountains in the process.

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The Life of Filipina-Korean Marriage Migrants

In the 1990s, the South Korean government began encouraging foreign women to come to Korea and marry rural bachelors after Korean women had fled the countryside for city jobs. Fe Calo and her sister-in-law, Marilou Quitiquit, are among over 25,000 estimated Filipina “marriage migrants” who have moved to Korea since then, following an industry of wedding brokers and policies in both countries facilitating migrants to raise families in Korea. Often, the women arrive without knowing the challenges that await them in a foreign land. Luckily for Fe, Marilou lives nearby in their remote village Ttangkkeut (“End of the Earth”) at the southernmost part of the Korean peninsula. With her husband Marilou grows the Filipino produce that Fe missed so dearly when she first left home and sells it to a wide network of Filipino-Korean multicultural - or “damunhwa” - families living throughout Korea. Among the village’s 5,906 residents, half the children now share Filipino ancestry. While “damunhwa” kids still face bullying and dismissal, the brilliant and resilient Filipino-Korean youth are undeniably part of Korea’s next generation. This story was supported in part by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

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What Life is like for a Trans Illustrator in Indonesia

Graphic designer Jeje lives in Jakarta and identifies as trans. As a child, when she was unsure of what to draw, she naturally began painting the feminine figure. She says she has to explain to people that she had a good upbringing and nothing happened to her. “I have always been this way.” She says today, representation exists beyond the field of arts–in sectors like healthcare and even politics. Government programs in Indonesia assist trans people in getting official ID's, health insurance, and bank accounts. But in 2020, the government began drafting new laws that will criminalize the trans community for existing. And in 2019, the Indonesian parliament proposed revisiting a criminal code that would make any relationship outside of the heterosexual traditional marriage illegal. Here's how Indonesian artists like Jeje are responding, and how activists like Shinta Ratri and Kusama Ayu for paving the way for more people to fight for trans rights.

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The Vietnam War left over 800,000 mines that have killed and injured over 100,000 Vietnamese people after the war ended. An all-female team through Project RENEW, has taken on detonating bombs in Quang Tri province, where 80% of the land is riddled with mines. Trinh Thi Hong Tham is the leader of this emergency response team. As a child, she would hear bombs going off, and witnessed people dying long after war was over. It left her traumatized, as well as determined to make her homeland safer. Project RENEW has completed over 1,000 missions today using strategic surveying, as well as relying on their own courage. Tham feels proud of the work she is doing to keep her hometown safer, regardless of how dangerous it is, and her family feels the same.

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How Wenfang Makes Genderless Imagery In China’s Graveyards

Wenfang is a fashion content creator in Northwest China, who believes beauty should be free and not engraved by gender. His work is pushing boundaries in a village where splashy outfits and makeup will have you bullied and labeled as improper. To avoid harassment, isolated rural areas like a graveyard became the safest environments for Wenfang to create. Inspired by Chinese traditional style, Wenfang is known for color matching, costume, and set dressing–taking high fashion and incorporating it into daily life. One of his clear messages is: “If it looks good, why does it need a gender?” He wants people to know there’s nothing wrong with looking how you like, regardless of what others think. And as someone who has plenty of people on the internet cursing his ancestors, Wenfang explains that knowing yourself is the only antidote. Wenfeng only started taking these pictures after his mother passed away: he describes how much she had sacrificed her life for others. “If you have an idea, go ahead and do it. Don’t regret anything.” Today, Wenfang is working on an environmental theme, expressing through fashion how many things from his childhood no longer exist.

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Influential people, including local counsel, mayors, and police, are stealing 40% of Karachi’s water and pocketing 50 billion rupees annually, through a system built on bribing leaders. Pakistan’s Chief Minister has created a task force to combat the water theft that has crept up in response. But people are skeptical it’ll take over from what is now a very powerful water mafia. Karachi’s water mafia independently (and illegally) extract water to supply neighborhoods in need and to irrigate crops to feed the people. But, the water is polluted and untested, and people are dying. However, their other option, to rely on leaders, will leave them dead, because they’re the ones enabling this system. Karachi is one of the fastest growing cities in South Asia, and has always had an issue getting water. The reason water operations have become so lucrative is because the water isn’t distributed evenly, and everyone needs it. But there’s consequences to an unregulated system: organized networks are extracting unlimited amounts of water, destabilizing the ground and leaving sinkholes in their wake.

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Kee Moo Members Speak On Queerness, Belonging, and Freedom

Here’s an insider’s look into Kee Moo, where queer performers found friendship, belonging, freedom, and safety. As a group of friends bonded by both sexuality and music, they share their journeys to self-discovery–and what their favorite pop stars like Whitney, Beyonce, and Britney taught them. In Thailand, “Katoey” was a word used to describe transgender people. Now it encompasses all queer people, ensuring greater inclusivity. Kee Moo is a powerful example of diversity within the Katoey community, consisting of performers who share how being confident and courageous can be perceived as attention seeking and abnormal in Thai culture. With the help of their favorite musical “divas”, these five stars create their own fulfilled, authentic, and proud lives. Whether it’s learning that people make mistakes from Lindsay Lohan’s tumultuous career, to “being different is better than being the same” from Lady Gaga, here’s an insider’s peek into how pop culture helped these queer Thai artists persevere and step into their own light.

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Breaking Asian Stereotypes With A Gang Called Speed

Jem elbowed his way into the hardcore music scene with a face and attitude that Australia had never seen. He recruited Sydney’s hardest Asian men - his brother Aaron, Dennis on guitar, Kane on drums, and his best friend Josh - and formed SPEED. The band was struck by the love it received once the music video dropped. The Sydney Hardcore scene took notice, but more unexpectedly the Asian community resonated with their music. With the rise of Asian hate crimes around the globe, SPEED mirrored how Asians felt. Their music became a calling card forAsians to get involved in the Hardcore scene or even start their own band to relinquish their untapped energy. The outcome? Everything good from multicultural Sydney, including street culture, fashion, Hip Hip, tattoos, and hard Asian men.

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The Young Women Building Kyrgyzstan's First Satellite

Kyzzhibek Batyrkanova leads a team of women who aim to launch Kyrgyzstan’s 1st ever satellite. As the program director at the Kyrgyz Satellite she built a team of unstoppable women who will make history. They learn the basics of engineering and apply those skills to build a nano-satellite that can collect and analyze data from outer space. Once they reach the final goal of securing a launch service provider, the satellite will be transported to the International Space Station and launched into orbit. In a country where young women face rigid gender stereotypes and even kidnapping that forces them to become wives, the women at Kyrgyz Satellite are pioneering a new space for girls in STEM. Do you want to support this program? Donate here: http://patreon.com/kyrgyzspaceprogram

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Indonesian Shamans are Changing Their Rituals In Times of Covid

A Dukun is an Indonesian term for shaman. Today, Dukuns in Indonesia like Ki Sawaung Rahsa and Ki Cokro Santri, have started revamping their spiritual offerings across digital platforms. If spirituality is energy and energy moves according to the mind, why can’t spirituality travel through objects we interact with everyday? This mindset got Ki Sawung Rahsa and Ki Cocro to widen their services, from traditional offerings like implanting gold needles into bodies to harness spiritual powers to consulting spiritual seekers via video call.

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Controlling the Weather with an Indonesian Rain Shaman

Pawang Hujans are rain shamans. In a country like Indonesia that experiences sudden monsoon downpours, Jendi Afriandi is hired to talk with spirits and keep outdoor events rain-free. Indonesians are deeply spiritual, and now that the country is easing COVID restrictions, this Rain Shaman is back at work. This is a day in his life. Would you hire a rain shaman for your outdoor event?

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Inside the Pirated Kaset Tape Scene in Indonesia

Kaset tapes were an affordable opportunity for Indonesian listeners to access contemporary Western pop culture – this unique culture would influence young local musicians to play Rock-and-Roll, but make that sound their own. Bootleg Kasets became so wide spread due to price and ease that it sparked a global debate about copyright in the international music industry.

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The Most Gifted Cosmetic Fish Surgeon - Dr. Ark

Singapore Fish. To some, food, to others, symbols of divinity. In Singapore, owning a certain fish can be the ultimate display of wealth. Meet Eugene "Dr. Ark" Ng, a fish cosmetic surgeon who operates on a fish native to Malaysia: the Arowana, that fetches between anywhere between $250 USD to $100,000. Hailed as the pioneer and best of the best when it comes to beautifying Arowanas, we spent a day learning about how he works and why he's revered. The Arowana is an elegant, 3-foot long fish with shining scales. It once was known as a villagers common source of food, but now, it's held as a symbol of wealth and success. These fish are carefully cultivated and highly limited, with 1 out of 10,000 fish in a supply being especially "prized." What role does Dr. Ark play in all this? He's the doctor you bring your fish to when they need a clean up. With more precision handling the fish than most expert sushi chefs, he swiftly adjusted the fish's "droopy" eye and scales, proving why he is the GOAT when it comes to cosmetic fish surgery.

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Ishigaki Island, Japan. Everyone's heard about people running into aliens. And everyone thinks generally the same thing: those people are crazy. Claims of encounters with extraterrestrials are usually dismissed as superstition or hallucination. So, when we heard reports of numerous and consistent UFO sightings on Ishigaki -- a modest, neighboring island to Okinawa in southwest Japan -- we arrived as skeptics. When we got to the island, we met Naoyoshi Watanabe, a resident who's heard of a creature with freaky features..."like some sort of mummified octopus, but with a face, arms, and legs." He says his friends came across the creature while fishing in the popular tourist spot, the "Blue Cave." Weirdly, about a week after they told Naoyoshi-san about their encounter and request to look into it, they'd forgotten about it entirely. When Naoyoshi-san's tried to follow up, they don't know what he's talking about. That's weird. But it's one story, and we weren't fully convinced. So we trekked up to the northernmost tip of the island to meet with Suekazu Maeda, a man who claims to regularly 'summon the vehicles of the legendary beings.' He was excited by captive audience, and walked us through his tried and true method - flashing a light into the night sky. Initially, nothing happened, just as expected: no outer-world being appeared. But then, almost as if on command, spheres of light as big as the stars were bursting into the night sky. Over the course of an hour, we were in awe as we witnessed around 8-9 flashes of light interacting with each other in the sky. We were shocked--it felt like being in a daze. Maeda-san, however, was unfazed. He's seen them before, many times, even heard them make noise. He only wishes he could see their faces.

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The Hungry Ghost Festival, also known as the Getai Festival, is an ancient part of Taoist culture where spirits are honored. It happens every year, during a time when the gates of the afterlife are believed to open up for a month and our spiritual ancestors come out to partake once more in the life they once lived. This festival is special, because here the entertainers are singing not just for the living, but also for the dead. Family members bow to shrines of their ancestors and people perform for wandering spirits. There is bias beneath the surface of a seemingly harmless festival: Getai singers are often stigmatized as lowly and disreputable. Some younger members of the Getai community are trying to change that, with genuine passion and appreciation for their culture and ancestors, as they sing and dance for those they cannot even see.

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“You have to start your life on wheels.” Those were the words Anand Arnold was told by his doctor when he survived cancer after a successful operation at age 13. He thought about how he could move forward with this new reality and what it means to rebuild himself. This new version of Anand had to be stronger and somebody his family could be proud of. Since the operation, he has rebuilt himself and won numerous titles such as winning Mr. World 2016, winning gold for ""Best Poser Body Builder"" and silver for ""Best Body Builder (both wheelchair category) in Mr. Olympia 2018, and winning gold for ""Best Poser Body Builder"" and bronze for ""Best Body Builder"" (wheelchair category) at Arnold Classic 2019. From surviving cancer to becoming the 1st world champion bodybuilder from India, this is how Anand became India’s Wheelchair Terminator.

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Meet Vietnam's First Female Stunt Coordinator

In a time when people told Nguyen Vu Truc Nhu (Katt) that 'this field is for men', she's coordinated stunts for Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods and has been nominated for the SAG award. Katt is now one of few stunt woman pushing the envelope for Hollywood-level stunts in Asia. She takes us behind the scenes and shows us the struggles to perform at Hollywood's highest level as Vietnam's first female stunt coordinator.

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The 24 Year Old Crypto Crook Who Ran a $140M Ponzi Scheme

Stefan He Qin didn't think his life would go this way. At 24, he had scammed 140 million from investors, family and friends. We captured the only interview he did, 3 days before beginning his 7.5 year sentence at Fort Dix Prison.

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Inside Pakistan’s First Women-Led Police Squad

The Police force in Pakistan is changing. Women only make up 1.5% of the police force in Pakistan, but Neelam Shaukat is trying to change that. She's training the next generation of police women to protect communities, in ways that aren't possible without more women. In Swat Valley, a conservative part of Northern Pakistan where honor killings still happen, Neelam is one of few female police chiefs. There she and her crew of other police women have to be ready for everything from supporting domestic violence survivors, to being ready to protect if a terrorist strike happens. This is a day in her life.

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Meet the artists behind your favorite Hong Kong Gangster films. Cowman, Wen Qiming, took the Hong Kong cinema to a whole new level with his 古惑仔 (Young and Dangerous) comic series. His story comes from what he's seen and the life he lives everyday, pulling references from real gangsters, his friends, and his city. “All of my Triad friends had tragic or fatal ends.” - Cowman

5/9/2023

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Masala y Maíz: All About Liberty

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5/9/2023

Mini docs