Short film Thirstygirl at Sundance

A few years ago I went to a conference, QCon, in London, where among the speakers, there was one who told her personal story of how she wasn’t taken serious in the tech field, until she cut her hair. That was my first encounter with Alexandra Qin.

Since hearing her talk, I’ve followed her work. She founded Emergent Works (as Code Cooperative) in 2016 and ran it until 2021. Emergent Works is a NYC based organization which does amazing work helping formerly incarcerated people, through training and mentorship. I highly recommend supporting them, if you have time and/or funds to spare.

From being the CEO of Emergent Works,  Alexandra Qin went on to write a short film, and raise money for it through Kickstarter. It was Thirstygirl, which was funded and made.

After it was produced, the short has been shown at a few film festivals. I went to a screening at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival in York, UK, where I also got the chance to say hi to Alexandra Qin.

Currently, the short film is being screened at the Sundance Festival, which obviously is fantastic. To read about how Alexandra Qin felt when she heard about the selection and to hear more about the background of the film, go read Unpacking sex addiction: Director Alexandra Qin talks about her deeply personal Sundance short film

Disclaimer: I have helped support Emergent Works financially, and I was one of the backers of Thirstygirl on Kickstarter.

Denmark has a new king

The Danish monarch changed earlier today – Queen Margrethe II abdicated and King Frederik X became the king. Unlike the English traditions around crowning a new monarch, the Danish procedure is a fairly low-key affair, in which the Danish Prime Minister declares that the former monarch has abdicated (or died, as is the usual case), long live the new monarch.

The official Instagram account about the Danish royal family (run by the staff connected to the royal family), posted a clip showing this happening.

I am firmly against anyone being born outside the law and into a privileged position, and I think the royal family should be abolished. Denmark claims to be a democracy, yet we still cling to these old remnants of the undemocratic past.

It is often argued that the royal Danish family is good for branding Denmark, and rather large valuations of that branding is thrown about, but these claims haven’t been proven (and indeed, cannot be proven). We don’t even know exactly how many money are used towards the royal family. The direct payouts are known, but not indirect costs, such as security, which is part of the military budget. But even if the branding value of the royal family is as high as claimed, then it doesn’t change the principle that a royal family has nothing to do in a modern democracy.

Edit note: I had written “have been proven” when I meant “haven’t been proven”. The text has been corrected.