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    Jolie Pitt accepts honorary post at Cambodian film festival

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1096 Views
    In this July 30, 2015, file photo, actress Angelina Jolie Pitt, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees special envoy and co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, visits Jan Mai Kaung refugee camp in Myitkyina, Kachin State, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Hkun Lat, File)
    PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) --

    The little-known Cambodia International Film Festival is getting a star-powered boost this year from Angelina Jolie Pitt.

    The Hollywood star, who is currently in Cambodia filming her latest movie, will serve as president of the festival's honorary committee, organizers said.

    The festival held in the capital, Phnom Penh, runs Dec. 4-10 and is screening 130 films from 34 countries.

    "Cambodia's rich history, long culture and talented people mean it has a huge amount to offer the region and the world," Jolie Pitt said in a statement issued Tuesday by the festival. "I'm proud to support the Cambodia International Film Festival and Cambodia as a home for vibrant and innovative filmmaking."

    Festival adviser Cedric Eloy, head of the Cambodian Film Commission, said Jolie Pitt's role would provide moral support and help "bring attention to the rebirth of the Cambodian film industry."

    Cambodia's film industry was devastated by the murderous reign of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. The regime executed artists, writers and filmmakers as part of its Maoist vision to eliminate the educated elite and transform the country into an agrarian utopia. More than 1.7 million people died under the regime.

    Jolie Pitt is currently filming an adaptation of a Khmer Rouge biography, "First They Killed My Father," based on a 2000 memoir by Cambodian author and human rights activist Luong Ung.

    Tags:Angelina Jolie PittCambodia International Film Festival



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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