Philippa Bateman
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enigmafilm.bsky.social
Philippa Bateman
@enigmafilm.bsky.social
Producer/director, films. Here for films, insight, ideas. Sometimes stray into outrage (politics and climate) Forgive me. Wash My Soul in the River’s Flow @Stan @appletv The Beehive @acmi Jindabyne @hbomax
www.enigmamachine.film
www.washmysoulfilm.com
Reposted by Philippa Bateman
In 1875 Carl Fratcher did an experiment. He put a frog in cold water & gradually raised the temperature until the water was boiling. He found that the frog would not move to escape the heating water. So far so metaphor. But prior to beginning he’d removed the frog’s brain. Don’t be a brainless frog.
January 26, 2026 at 7:36 AM
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This is the last call for the "Ah, but…" people. Applications will be closing soon
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Yes, It’s Fascism
Until recently, I thought it a term best avoided. But now, the resemblances are too many and too strong to deny.
www.theatlantic.com
January 25, 2026 at 4:56 PM
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Holy shit.
January 25, 2026 at 3:48 AM
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Trump's Davos speech was the act of a madman and that is the only sensible manner in which it should have been covered iandunt.substack.com/p/breaking-t...
January 23, 2026 at 12:42 PM
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So proud of #FiFellow Chloé Zhao (Screenwriting Lab ‘11), who has received two #Oscar nominations for ‘Hamnet’: Best Director Adapted Screenplay! 👏

#Oscars2026 #FilmIndependent

www.indiewire.com/awards/resul...
Chloé Zhao Becomes Only Second Female Filmmaker Nominated Twice for Best Director
'Hamnet' director Chloe Zhao, who previously won for directing 'Nomadland,' now joins an Oscar club that previously only included Jane Campion.
www.indiewire.com
January 22, 2026 at 7:48 PM
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Not to chime in here, but I wrote an explainer on this at my last job, and it was wild how hard it was to get anyone in Hollywood to talk about it. The political consultants who get hired by studios were much happier to chat:
www.vox.com/culture/2019...
How to win an Oscar
The campaign trail for the Academy Awards is expensive, exhausting, and not really about the movie.
www.vox.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:13 PM
Yes, yes and fucking yes
January 22, 2026 at 11:51 AM
What is it about Australian women leaders in politics — most of whom are handed a poison chalice — being bullied and made to retreat? Sussan Ley has been treated badly, much like former Prime Minister Julia Gillard. #auspol2026
January 22, 2026 at 8:15 AM
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Mark Carney has delivered one of the most important speeches of our era. There is a better future waiting for Britain if we dare to follow his example.

inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...
January 21, 2026 at 8:02 PM
Reposted by Philippa Bateman
I understand the logic of providing Trump an off-ramp so he can back out with some dignity, but I think it's dangerous to do so. Each time these issues are resolved this way, he will be tempted to conduct himself this way again. What he needs is a public spanking.
January 21, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Grateful to hear @davidshoebridge.bsky.social speaking with great clarity and detail about the problems with hate speech legislation. #rnbreakfast
January 20, 2026 at 8:54 PM
Those who live for the getting of gongs we know to be deeply superficial beings.

Now we know it to be dangerous

Trump Administration Live Updates: NATO Officials Discuss Arctic Security After President Ties Greenland Push to Nobel Snub www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
Trump Administration Live Updates: NATO Officials Discuss Arctic Security After President Ties Greenland Push to Nobel Snub
www.nytimes.com
January 19, 2026 at 10:43 PM
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They should rescind the award. She basically sold it on eBay.
January 16, 2026 at 11:46 AM
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Just before the stock market crashed in 1929, sale talks went far enough that insiders were getting ready to announce what was going to be called the “Paramount-Warner Bros. Corporation.”
The “Paramount-Warner Bros. Corporation” Nearly Happened — Then the Stock Market Crashed
“Prosperity is back,” beamed Paramount chairman Adolph Zukor in 1922, noting that the previous year nearly dealt a “mortal blow” to motion pictures. The industry had weathered a storm of growing public suspicion over sordid details coming from the entertainment industry in the wake of producer William Desmond Taylor’s murder and the rape/murder trials and acquittal of comedian Fatty Arbuckle. To ensure future confidence in motion pictures, Zukor helped bring in a self-censoring body to keep the concerned government and public happy. Paramount was coming out of a period of growth.
bit.ly
January 17, 2026 at 7:00 AM
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I do not like living during the Idiocracy.
January 16, 2026 at 8:04 AM
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We live in hope 🙏
This is huge: For the first time since the early 1970s, coal power generation has fallen in both China & India.

It undercuts claims that decarbonisation is pointless while they expand coal. Renewables are no longer just adding capacity — they’re displacing coal.

www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Coal power generation falls in China and India for first time since 1970s
‘Historic’ moment in biggest coal-consuming countries could bring decline in global emissions, analysis says
www.theguardian.com
January 15, 2026 at 9:36 PM
I loved #hamnet but I also love reading a critique of the film.
There is “inherent kitsch in reducing one of the richest, most intellectually prismatic works in English literature to an instrument of healing,” Justin Chang writes. “What is ‘Hamnet,’ or ‘Hamlet,’ without a little ham?” Read his full review of the film: newyorkermag.visitlink.me/4LfyMu
“Hamnet” Feels Elemental, but Is It Just Highly Effective Grief Porn?
In Chloé Zhao’s film, adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, the death of a child gives rise to the creation of a literary masterpiece.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
January 14, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Barnaby Joyce can’t shut up, he makes zero sense and never answers the question. How many people go on shooting holidays in Australia? Pig shooters “aren’t criminals…we haven’t committed a crime.” A lot of the time, “we need ten guns”. Perfect for One Nation #auspol2026 #rnbreakfast
January 14, 2026 at 8:55 PM
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You did it, Joe
“.. Are we really gonna be the Gestapo, 'Where's your papers?' Is that what we've come to?"
January 13, 2026 at 8:16 PM
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Audiences draw a clearer line on AI than Hollywood might expect. Polling shows broad acceptance for AI in VFX, subtitles, and editing, but strong resistance when it comes to acting, writing, and vocals. Daniel Parris breaks down where tolerance ends: theankler.com/p/how-much-a...
January 2, 2026 at 7:21 PM
All hail the sulphur crested cockatoo
January 11, 2026 at 12:34 PM