Global Peace Film Festival: Still Needed After All These Years

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Thursday, 15 September 2011 05:00

Written by L E Shannon

The 9th Annual Global Peace Film Festival (GPFF) 2011 takes place September 20 - 25, 2011 at Plaza Cinema Café, Orlando Science Center in Orlando, and Rollins College in Winter Park, and other venues in and around Orlando, Florida.

With international films ranging from the human condition to sustainability and the environment, the Festival goes beyond anti-war, activist, or ideology statements to "suggest a more personal message as reflected in the daily lives of individuals and communities the world over."

The Festival kicks off with the Opening Night outdoor screening of Fire in Babylon, directed by Stevan Riley. The film tells the story of how the West Indies triumphed over its colonial masters through the achievements of one of the most gifted cricket teams in sporting history.  

In celebration of the United Nations International Day of Peace, the Festival is screening the award-winning film The Day After Peace, directed by Jeremy Gilley and starring Michael Douglas, Gilley, Angelina Jolie and Jude Law. The film is about a man who bucks the odds to start an annual global 'Peace Day‛.

Forgotten Transports is an omnibus documentary in four parts, two of which are being screened: To Estonia and To Poland. Directed by Lukáš Přibyl, the films are about a little known part of Holocaust history the Czech director made after 10 years of research.  

Other documentaries screened include:

2012: The True Mayan Prophecy
dir. Dawn Engle (PeaceJam)
Nobel Peace Laureates Rigoberta Menchu Tum, The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, among others, tell us what we "DON'T need to worry about, and the five things we all need to be doing right now in order to best survive this change in time."

Into Eternity
dir. Michael Madsen (Denmark) [NOT the American actor]
A gigantic network of underground tunnels is being hewn out of the bedrock in Finland as we speak -- a project scheduled to take 120 years. "The tunnels will be filled with high-level radioactive waste, which must be kept isolated from human beings and other live organisms for at least 100.000 years into the future so as not to render large areas uninhabitable."

The Truth that Wasn’t There
dir. Guy Gunaratne (UK)
No journalists were given access to the civil war in Sri Lanka, even as it ended in 2009, and thus was never reported as it actually happened. But then three student journalists ventured into the country from the UK. "Their naivety afforded them access to areas denied to journalists from the BBC or CNN" and they proceeded to shoot and record anything and everything they could. The film shows us what they witnessed.

Narrative features are also included in the Festival:

Golf in the Kingdom
dir. Susan Streitfeld
starring Mason Gamble, David O'Hara, Tony Curran, Frances Fisher, Julian Sands
An American student in 1956 is heading to India and decides to play one last game of golf before giving it up. He is paired with an older man whose influence could determine his choices. The film is based on the novel by Michael Murphy.

The Trotsky
dir. Jacob Tierney
starring Jay Baruchel, Saul Rubinek, Geneviève Bujold, Emily Hampshire, Colm Feore
A high school student is convinced he is the reincarnation of early 20th-century Soviet iconoclast and Red Army hero, Leon Trotsky. But when he starts a hunger strike at his father‛s factory, his father is not amused.

The screenings also include several short films, including animation.

Several panels are being held

What Is Peace? – Panelists discuss what it means for people to struggle for peace in all aspects of their life.

Making Films That Make a Difference – Issue-oriented films take a tremendous commitment and present their own challenges -- especially when the story is outside the mainstream. Several independent filmmakers share their experiences.

Peace Pitch – Work-in-progress "Every Three Seconds"  – Every three seconds, someone somewhere dies from hunger or preventable disease -- yet we now have everything we need to end hunger and extreme poverty around the world. This project is about the potential in each of us to have a positive impact on the world.

Issues Forum – Media Coverage of Peace & Environment Issues – "A dialogue between journalists and media makers that examines coverage of issues from the point of view of the media and from the perspective of the media makers."

Interfaith Dialogue – Following the screening of Pushing the Elephant, a panel of leaders from different faiths discuss the issues raised in the film.

Robert Frye, an independent filmmaker and former executive producer of ABC’s World News Tonight, will speak about his film, In My Lifetime, a documentary about the history of the nuclear power and nuclear weapons industries – and the role of advocacy in film.

For more information, go to www.peacefilmfest.org.

Global Peace Film Festival
September 20 - 25, 2011

Plaza Cinema Café
155 S. Orange Ave.
Orlando, FL

Rollins College
E. Fairbanks Ave. at S. Interlachen Ave.
Winter Park, FL 32789
407-646-2000
www.rollins.edu

Valencia College
Performing Arts Center
East Campus
701 N. Econlockhatchee Trail
Orlando, FL

Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida
851 N. Maitland Ave.
Maitland, FL
407-628-0555
www.holocaustedu.org

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