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Graham Leggat and the Art of Engagement | SF360.

Griffin and Jordan Getting Nails Done | SF360.

Still, the hair and nail stylists who are exposed to the chemicals daily say Congress needs to act.

Cosmetologist Van Nguyen, who immigrated to the U.S. more than a decade ago and works at a San

Francisco nail salon, said she fears the chemicals at her job are responsible for two miscarriages and

memory loss.

“We came here for a better life, but I didn’t know I’d end up working with harmful chemicals. My doctor

has advised me not to work around these chemicals, but this is how I know to make a living,” she

explained. “What can I do?”

United Nations Association Film Festival

The 14th annual United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF) will take place on October 22-30, 2011 at Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, San Francisco and Stanford University in California.  This festival celebrates the power of international documentary films dealing with  human rights issues, environmental themes, protection of refugees, famine, homelessness, racism, disease control, women’s issues, children, universal education, war and peace. In addition to our ongoing celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this year we emphasize the theme “Education is a Human Right.”

Griffin and Jordan Getting Nails Done | SF360.

YBCA Brings Attention to Embattled Iranian Artists | SF360.

Last December, Iranian courts sentenced Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof to six years in prison and a 20-year ban from writing and directing films, speaking to foreign press and leaving the country—a definitive word on their lives as socially engaged artists. The filmmakers were convicted of “assembly and colluding with the intention to commit crimes against the country’s national security and propaganda against the Islamic Republic.” That with the intention phrase to is a chilling reminder of authoritarian soothsaying. The sentence came ten months after the men were first arrested for allegedly working on a film with pro-Reform sympathies (though one imagines even just acknowledging the Green Movement’s existence would have set off alarms). Most of the 19 apprehended in this initial raid were released in a matter of days, but Rasoulof was kept waiting two weeks and Panahi was only let out on bail on May 25.

Painted Nails trailer
a documentary by Dianne Griffin and Erica Jordan
translation and guidance by Nhung Pham

The world is at our fingertips in Painted Nails — a Vietnamese immigrant story of exotic nail art, pampered clients, and the serious health risks that lurk beneath the brightly painted surface. The nail industry is an economic steppingstone for a generation of Vietnamese immigrant women. Yet, for these women, the promise of the American Dream has its price. Painted Nails will explore the benefits and the dangers both workers and clients face.

If you’ve ever stepped into a nail salon, you know the smell of a chemical cocktail that hits you like an invisible wall. While consumers may tolerate it during a short visit, the nail salon workers find themselves stewing in a toxic bubble for years. On this edition, we take a look at the health impacts of chemical exposure, the shoddy regulation of cosmetics, and the movement towards greener nail salons.

FEESA – Feed Educate Employ South Africa from Dianne Griffin on Vimeo.

Plants have found a home on walls for centuries, but are sometimes incongruous with architecture, often breaking down the structural integrity of a building’s facade. Patrick Blanc’s Vertical Garden System, known as Le Mur Vegetal in French, allows both plants and buildings to live in harmony with one another. The botanist cum vertical landscape designer is probably best know for his gorgeous living wall on the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris (shown above). But Blanc’s Vertical Garden System can be implemented anywhere: indoors or out and in any climatic environment.