Featured content
Viva V.E.R.D.I.
This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from 14 to 20 June 2015.
Featured lists
Four Featured lists were promoted this week.
- List of accolades received by The Dirty Picture (nominated by Krimuk90) The Dirty Picture is a film based on the lives of South Indian actresses- in particular Silk Smitha, who was "noted for her erotic roles". The film charts the rise of Silk to stardom, and her decline and suicide. Since its release in 2011, it has garnered three National Film Awards including Best Actress, three Filmfare Awards, six Screen Awards, and a number of other awards. After four weeks on the circuit, Dirty Picture was declared a "Blockbuster" by Box Office India. And the title? After Silk Smitha is publicly insulted by male star Suryakanth, who calls her everyone's "dirty secret", she announces defiantly that she will continue to make her "dirty pictures".
- Madhuri Dixit filmography (nominated by FrB.TG) Madhuri Dixit is an Indian actress who is in a number of Bollywood films. Her film career, that has made her a leading actress, started in 1984 with Abodh in which she has an arranged marriage with Shankar but her breakthrough film was, in 1988, called Tezaab.
- National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor (nominated by FrB.TG) The National Film Awards ceremony is held annually by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals. The award for best supporting actor has been given 32 times, to 29 actors for their performances. It was first awarded in 1984, to Victor Banerjee for his role as the Bengali noble Nikhilesh in Ghare Baire. That same year Banerjee also took the major role of Dr. Aziz Ahmed in David Lean's A Passage to India, on the suggestion of Satyajit Ray. The casting of an Indian actor by Lean, as opposed to a British Asian, was widely welcomed.
- P. G. Wodehouse bibliography (nominated by SchroCat) Pelham Grenville Wodehouse was an English writer. His best known characters, which appeared in over 40 short stories and novels, are Jeeves and Wooster. Wodehouse also wrote novels about school life, as well as plays that were turned into scripts for films.
Featured pictures
Twelve Featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Apollo 13 Service Module (created by NASA; nominated by TomStar81) Apollo 13 was a turning point in American space exploration. The mission, which television had decided to overlook as "Space Flight" had become somewhat routine, turned into one of the iconic spectacles of the 1970s. This photo of the crippled command module just after separation showing the damage caused by the explosion in the O2 "scrubbers" onboard the command module, is truly one of that decade's most well remembered photos.
- Western honey bee larvae and eggs (created by Waugsberg; nominated by Alborzagros) The western honey bee is a native of Europe, Africa and Asia. The bee, that beekeepers utilise for honey production and also pollination, produces hexagonal honeycombs in which the larvae are laid, together with a store of honey.
- Intentional camera movement (created by Colin; nominated by Crisco 1492) A photograph by Colin showing the effect of intentional camera movement while the shutter is open. Here the camera has been moved vertically, giving an "Impressionistic" view of the bluebell woods on the Ashridge estate in the Chilterns.
- Brompton Oratory nave (created and nominated by David Iliff) This magnificent view of the interior of Brompton Oratory by David Iliff contains a wealth of detail. Built in the 1880s, the Oratory contains a number of examples of Italian Baroque sculpture, some of which can be seen.
- Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary (created by Raphael; nominated by Crisco 1492) Commissioned by a monastery in Palermo, Sicily, Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary was painted by Raphael in 1517. The ship carrying it to Palermo was wrecked in a storm, and all the crew and cargo lost, except for the case in which the painting was conveyed. It floated to Genoa, where the painting was recovered undamaged- its arrival there being seen as something miraculous. The monks of Palermo had to ask the Pope to intercede so they could take possession of their painting.
- I Lombardi alla prima crociata (uncredited; restored and nominated by Adam Cuerden) Giuseppe Verdi wrote the music for I Lombardi alla prima crociata at a time when Milan was under the control of the Austrians; the libretto by Temistocle Solera was based on an epic poem which showed Italians united against a common enemy. The political and nationalistic themes of the original were diluted by reducing the story to that of a Lombard family's entanglement in a Crusade. Thus Verdi managed to avoid the attentions of the Austrian police.
- Un ballo in maschera (created by Roberto Focosi; restored and nominated by Adam Cuerden) Un Ballo in maschera is an opera by Verdi, with a libretto based on the assassination of the Swedish king Gustav III at a masked ball. Gustav was shot in the ball, and died 13 days later from the wound. The part of Gustav was sung by a soprano. Due to the Italian censors, the plot had to be moved around, eventually being set in colonial New England, with the Earl of Warwick taking Gustav's role in the plot. These censors would plague Verdi throughout his career, forcing many changes, some simple, some excessive. We'll be seeing a lot of them over the next month.
- World War One Iranian Toman (Farsi-overprinted five German Mark) (created by National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History; nominated by Godot13) A small area of Iran was occupied by German and Turkish forces between 1914 and 1918. German intelligence agent posing as consular official Wilhelm Wassmuss had German banknotes overprinted in Farsi script with values in Persian currency for use in this area. He appears to have had strong links with clan leaders who were being paid by the German government to engage in anti-British activities, and it may be that these overprinted notes were used to pay them.
- c. 1896 Iranian Toman (10 toman gold coin, depicting Mozaffar ad-Din) (created by Tehran; nominated by Godot13) Mozaffar ad-Din appears on this gold 10 toman coin from Iran; he was the fifth Shah of the Qajar dynasty.
- Cheomseongdae (created by Zsinj; nominated by Blorgy555) Cheomseongdae is a stone tower built some 1400 years ago in Gyeongju, then the capital of the Silla kingdom of Korea. Its name means "star-gazing platform", and it was probably used for astronomical or astrological observations. Constructed from granite blocks, Cheomseongdae is 9.4 metres tall.
- Night of the Living Dead (created by George Romero; nominated by Crisco 1492) Filmed on a small budget by George Romero, Night of the Living Dead involves an attack by zombies on a group of travellers sheltering in a remote Pennsylvania farmhouse. The "zombies" aren't real dead people, unlike those in the final scenes of Apocalypse Now, where a local fixer cheated Coppola by supplying the contents of a local graveyard, rather than the medical school leftovers requested as props.
- Viborg Katedralskole (created and nominated by Slaunger) A stunning panoramic view of the Neoclassical Viborg Katedralskole in Denmark by Slaunger. The motto Vitam Impendere Vero can be read above the main door.
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