News
'Too Hot To Handle' To Prison Wife: "I'm Not Desperate" | LOVE DON'T JUDGE
SUBSCRIBE to Love Don't Judge here: https://bit.ly/3z0dq6y
LORRA and Joshua's journey began last Christmas, December 2023, whilst residing in Dubai there was an issue with her visa and as a result, Laura wasn't allowed on her flight home to her native Germany for Christmas. Feeling lonely at Christmas, Laura was scrolling through TikTok when she came across a video explaining how to write to a prisoner. Feeling emphatic about the men locked up alone during the festive season, she decided to write to one of them. This is how Lorra started her relationship with a man in the United States, who she is now married to. She told Love Don't Judge: "Before I had everything when it came to materialistic stuff, financial stuff. I was travelling the world, I was doing everything you can imagine. But I never felt satisfied within. That was because I needed love." She continued: "Since I met him I realised that was what I was missing." Lorra shares their love story online, explaining how they make their marriage work. But many commenters have criticised their union. Trolling comments include: "This is a prison personality, it's a fantasy. Girl, he's a murderer", "wow he's about to use the hell out of you what a dumbass" and suggesting that the couple are using each other. In this episode of Love Don't Judge, Lorra gets a visit from her friend, ready to question the reason for her choice to marry someone behind bars. "My friend Samira is coming over today, I met her on a TV show [Too Hot To Handle] that I was part of." Samira said: "When Lorra first told me about Joshua I was shocked. She called and told me that she was married to someone in prison, I don't have words for that moment. I had reservations, is this the right decision? Is she doing the right thing?"
Follow the couple's journey on TikTok -
English account: lorraandjosh
German account: joshundlorra
Videographer - Nikita Pavlov
Senior producer - Yasmin Walker
Casting producer - Terri Hughes
Video producer - Kate Moore
Editor - Jonny Poole
Production coordinators - Magda Ceron & Issi Lloyd-Waite
The Dirty Secret Behind the Green Hydrogen Push
Green hydrogen is increasingly touted as the silver bullet for global warming. Billions have been invested into building infrastructure to eventually transition away from fossil fuels.
But a recent hydrogen push has revealed that the effort may have a dirty secret.
How Nike Ran Into Trouble
Nike is now worth $100 billion less than it was during the last Summer Olympic Games.The brand’s decision during the pandemic to cut ties with brick-and-mortar retailers in favor of its own stores and website played a part in its decline in value, but so did the rise of competitors like ON, Asics and Hoka. It’s one of the reasons that this year’s Paris Games are exceptionally important for the world’s largest sportswear retailer.
Gianni Jovanovic – Bridge Builders
Gianni Jovanović is an entrepreneur, activist and performer. He is considered one of the loudest voices of the Rom*nja and Sinti*zze community in Germany. He also fights for the rights of minorities within the LGBTIQ+ community. In 2023, Jovanović, born in 1978 into a Roma family from Serbia, appeared as co-host of RuPaul’s “Drag Race Germany”.
In the episode, Gianni Jovanović discusses his experiences of racism in Germany and talks about the difficulties faced by the Roma community in being accepted as an intrinsic part of Europe. As a Roma who grew up in Germany with a Serbian family history, he describes his multifaceted identity, which cannot be limited to one nationality. The European idea is just as much a part of him as Serbian folk music.
Gianni Jovanović is living his dream. In doing so, he brings the discrimination of ethnic and sexual minorities into the social discourse. The rights and freedoms fought for in the European Union for every individual to develop freely must be preserved on the one hand, but should also benefit all Europeans, including people in the Balkans, on the other.
What It’s Like to Lead a Full Potential Transformation
Marc-André Kamel asks Olaf Koch, former CFO of Mercedes and former CEO of Metro, how to know when a large-scale transformation is needed and how to run one.
Olaf Koch, former CFO of Mercedes and former CEO of Metro, now a venture capitalist at Zintinus Partners, offers lessons from his experience leading large-scale corporate transformations in a conversation with Marc-André Kamel, global leader of Bain’s Retail practice. Koch discusses the leadership challenge of undertaking a large-scale transformation, from admitting your business is losing its competitive edge to transforming the company culture and motivating employees to do what’s needed.
Fiskars & Saas Instruments Berlin
Fiskars and Saas Instrument "Nordic Food and Light Design" - event at the Embassy of Finland in Berlin (Felleshus).
Video created by Nikita Pavlov.
I'm Never Getting Married - But Do I Rock Being A Bride?
MARIA Spallek, 33, from Germany, has been collecting tattoos since she was 18 years old. When she was 23, Maria got her eyeball tattooed and by the time she turned 24, she tattooed her face... All things her mum Diana, wasn't happy with. Maria's unique look has brought her a lot of attention from the public, but not all of this has been positive. Maria told Truly: "I have had some bad experiences from people on the street, people have thrown small stones, on the way to the subway, someone grabbed my jacket and screamed at me." Despite these judgements, Maria loves being tattooed and is not planning to stop anytime soon. Today, with the help of makeup artist Anna, Maria will be transformed into a bride to be... A few years back Maria was engaged to be married but after the breakdown of this relationship she decided that marriage was not for her. Maria is now going to surprise her mum with her transformed look, as she knows it will mean an awful lot to her. Maria said: "I think my mum was more excited about it than me, but today I just want to give her one look at her daughter in a wedding dress that she will probably never have." Will this transformation change Maria's thoughts about marriage, or will Maria stick to her principles and say no to the dress?
2023 Alumni Excellence Award Recipient | Matthew Gain
In August, my team and I worked with Owen Burns at THIRTY3SOUTH Films to interview Matthew Gain (Senior VP and Head of Audible Europe) for the International Leadership Award at the University of Newcastle.
Thanks to Elina Nikolaeva and Michael Gerstein, who were awesome to work with!
“The world is full of amazing stories, my goal is to unleash the power of the spoken word, so more of those stories can be told… I want to create space to ensure we are telling stories that are underrepresented and not typically heard in the mainstream media.”
With a leadership style founded in equity and diversity, Matthew has an extraordinary aptitude for innovation and driving business models that translate across multinational contexts. Based in Berlin, he is now at the helm of the European business of one of the largest audiobook and podcast providers in the world - Audible. In his own words - “the world is full of amazing stories” ... and we are delighted to share his.
The 2023 recipient of the International Leadership Award is… Matthew Gain.
Learn more: www.newcastle.edu.au/alumniawards
Screening of my movie in Tbilisi, Georgia
On September 14 at 19:00 there will be a screening of the film "When the New Year Comes on the Shabbath" directed by Nikita Pavlov.
The movie will be personally presented by its producer - Konstantin Shavlovsky, and the director will join the discussion via video link.
We shot his movie with Nikita back in 2012 with the participation of the studio "Seance", and since then he managed to become one of the cinematographers of the movie "Navalny", and thus - the winner of Oscar, Sundance and BAFTA. At the meeting we will talk about the difficulties of emigration to Israel and Europe, professional adaptation, art-activism, actionism and anything else we want to talk about!
"When the New Year Comes on the Shabbath" is a film-diary about finding oneself in a new place, about dissipating the connection with the old and trying to integrate into a foreign society. Before us is an example of the movie's protagonist's experience after repatriation to Israel. Are we all alike? Or does everyone walk his or her own individual path, with its mistakes, pains, successes and discoveries?
The movie will be shown in its original language with English subtitles.
📍 Venue: KERA SPACE
📍Address of the event: 23 Giorgi Shatberashvili street
Fotografiska Berlin - What makes the perfect museum?
What makes the perfect museum? Is it the art, the institution, or something more? We asked a few of our community members what they would do if they were in charge of their own museum space—and their answers were as diverse and they were compelling.
Big thanks to (in order of appearance):
Craig Barrow (@craigbarrow) – Artist and Designer
Donia Hamdami (#doniahamdami) – School of Design Thinking
Johnny Nghiem (@jhonny_5) – Photographer
Boris Eldagsen (@boriseldagsen) – Photomedia & AI Artist
Bernard Koomson (@bernsbazillion) – Founder of deadHYPE
Aidara Oumou (@fav.gardener) – Multimedia Artist
Fotografiska Berlin - A museum is a museum is a museum
A museum is a museum is a museum. We asked some people in our community what they expect from a contemporary museum—and listened closely to their answers.
Shout out to (in order of appearance):
Bernard Koomson (@bernsbazillion) – Founder of deadHYPE
Daria Suvorova – Founder and Host, Women Authors of Achievement Podcast (@waa.berlin)
Johnny Nghiem (@jhonny_5) – Photographer
Craig Barrow (@craigbarrow) – Artist and Designer
Boris Eldagsen (@boriseldagsen) – Photomedia & AI Artist
Donia Hamdami (#doniahamdami) – School of Design Thinking
Bloomberg Investigates
Hey, folks! Recently we completed our shoot for Bloomberg Investigates. It was very interesting and challenging task, so I want to share it with you. The Bloomberg team did all the shooting in New York. I had to film Charles Bahr (former ad sales manager in TikTok Germany) in Hamburg AS IF he were also in New York. Tricky, don't you think?
Capturing the essence of New York in a rainy Hamburg seemed impossible, but we found the perfect solution: lighting. With the right angle and lamps, we recreated the ambiance of a Manhattan sunset. It's amazing how lighting can transform the vibe and create magic on set — the whole alchemy of the shooting process.
Ever since TikTok burst onto the scene in 2018, its content has kept people glued to their screens. But it's important to be aware of the potential mental health impact on young users, especially with content that can lead to self-harm and even suicide.
Inside Wagner, Russia’s Secret War Company | WSJ Documentary
JFBB 2023 — JEWCY MOVIES — The Jewish Film Festival Berlin | Brandenburg will be held from June 13th to 18th. And guess what? I am the part of the jury team for the documentary film competition.
The Wall Street Journal’s recent documentary 'Shadow Men: Inside Russia’s Secret War Company' dives into the perilous global expansion of Wagner, a Russian private military company. The film traces the evolution of this group from a modest operation to a vast network of businesses spanning four continents.
Through a series of interviews with Wagner's current and former fighters, government insiders, attack victims, and war crime investigators, the documentary uncovers the group's concealed wealth and resources flowing through a labyrinth of front companies tied to the Kremlin.
In contributing to this documentary, I had the opportunity to film an interview with John E. Smith, the Director of the U.S. Treasury Sanctions Agency from 2015 to 2018.
The Jewish Film Festival Berlin | Brandenburg
JFBB 2023 — JEWCY MOVIES — The Jewish Film Festival Berlin | Brandenburg will be held from June 13th to 18th. And guess what? I am the part of the jury team for the documentary film competition.
Friends! I have great news for you. JFBB 2023 — JEWCY MOVIES — The Jewish Film Festival Berlin | Brandenburg will be held from June 13th to 18th. And guess what? I am the part of the jury team for the documentary film competition. Can’t wait to meet my jury colleagues, Geoffroy Grison (Screenwriter, France) and Abigail Prade (Film Commissioner at the Claims Conference NYC, USA). I'm so grateful for the trust and thrilled to be part of the festival. Thanks a lot for having me! Can't wait to see all the incredible submissions.
I am really excited for this unique festival which brings together some of my most important special interests: Jewish culture, cinema, and documentaries! It's all happening in Berlin and Potsdam. I can already see myself riding my bike from theater to theater to see more and more Jewcy movies. There are around 64 films on the schedule, so let me know if you plan on joining me for any of them.
Don’t miss! The ticket sale just began! Just check out the program. I am pretty sure, this is the best way to spend warm and sunny summer days.
I need to tell you, I'm a bit nervous as I've been invited to be a part of the jury (crazy, never happened with me before). It feels so weird. The scariest part is if I have to go on the stage. Last time I did that was during the Navalny festival tour and thank god they didn't let me have the mic. All I had to do was smile and wave. Trust me, that's about all I'm capable of. But I promise to wave and smile like a pro!
Come to support me and see some amazing films together!
Time to create a nice moment for yourself
One of the best things about this time of year is that we can really snuggle up at home.
Our new slipper, the Lotus, comes with an upper which is made of 100% wool felt. It encloses our feet softly and warmly and at the same time, it is lightweight and breathable. This promises comfort and cosiness for the feet.
Have you had a particularly cosy moment so far this week? If not, then it's about time!
Forbes DA Women Summit 2022
Since 2017, we have been working on our diversity initiative and its flagship event, the Forbes Women’ Summit. And for three years, the theme “Superwoman” has been at the center of it all. In 2022, we were able to go the next step in our goal to increase diversity in business, the arts and society as a whole – not because we’re altruistic, but because we believe that diversity is one of the main drivers for higher and more sustainable profits. We listened to entrepreneurs and executives, artists and musicians as well as activists and politicians on how to change the status quo once and for all. Thanks to all our speakers, our incredible partners and everyone who watched and listened for helping to make this event happen.
I Had My First Boob Job At 16 - And I've Had 5 More Since | HOOKED ON THE LOOK
A VINTAGE fashion collector is proving that fashion from 2000-2009 can be a lifestyle, not just a trend. Ivana Vladislava, from Germany, is obsessed with the noughties era style. In her current vintage clothes collection she has items worn by Jennifer Lopez, Paris Hilton and Pamela Anderson, which individually never cost her more than $100. But that’s what Ivana loves - big labels for a small price. Ivana, who was born a man, always knew she wanted to live her life as a woman and at 16 she got her first boob job. As Ivana got older and in pursuit of her 2000’s it-girl image, she got a further five breast jobs, six nose jobs, two BBLs (Brazilian Butt Lifts), a jawline reduction, a forehead reduction, a brow lift and multiple liposuctions. Ivana isn’t sure how much she’s spent in total, but tells us she’s invested every penny into her procedures. For Ivana, whose age is a ‘medical mystery’, the procedures have been a great success and she has zero regrets.
Videographer: Nikita Pavlov
Producers: Frazer Randalls, Ruby Coote
Editor: Gary Sykes
