Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 August 25

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James Cameron
James Cameron

The 2009 science fiction film Avatar garnered awards and nominations in a variety of categories with particular praise for its direction, cinematography and visual effects. Written and directed by James Cameron (pictured), the film is set in the mid-22nd century, when humans are colonizing Pandora, a lush habitable moon in the Alpha Centauri star system, in order to mine the mineral unobtanium. The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Na'vi – a humanoid species indigenous to Pandora. At the 82nd Academy Awards, the film won for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects, and was nominated for a total of nine awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. It garnered four nominations at the 67th Golden Globe Awards ceremony, and received two awards for Best Film – Drama and Best Director. Avatar received recognition from a number of North American critics' associations. In December 2009, the American Film Institute recognized the film and Cameron's advances in CGI effects with their yearly "AFI Moments of Significance" award, claiming it "will have profound effects on the future of the art form". (Full list...)

Today's featured picture

Chain gang

A chain gang of young African-American convicts in the Southern United States, circa 1903. A common practice historically in the American South, prisoners would be chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work as a form of punishment. Chain gangs allowed prisoners to work in public outside of penitentiaries, satisfying the need for labor on government projects, such as railroads and roads. During the decline of convict leasing, from which states generated significant revenue, chain gangs were employed to offset the costs for the housing of inmates. The practice had ceased by the 1950s, though it had a small resurgence in the 1990s in some states.

Photograph: Detroit Publishing Company; restoration: Scewing

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