The Common Ground Film Series at the United Nations

The Power of Forgiveness – explores the importance and opportunity of giving and receiving forgiveness through stories about Catholic and Protestant communities in Northern Ireland, victims of 9/11, and group and individual responses to murder and violence.

Confronting the Truth – examines four very different Truth and Reconciliation processes from South Africa, Peru, East Timor and Morocco demonstrating the different reasons they were created, the different approaches they took and their strengths and weaknesses.

Knowledge is the Beginning – relates the aspiration of Palestinian intellectual Edward Said and Israeli maestro Daniel Barenboim to create the East/West Divan Orchestra with Arab and Israeli youth and their effort to break mental, emotional and physical barriers including ground-breaking concert on the West Bank.

In the Tall Grass –follows a rural community in Rwanda through their painful recounting of the genocide through an actual Gacaca trial of one neighbor accused of killing four members of local family and the widow’s quest to see them properly buried.  Community taboos break down and reconciliation happens in unexpected ways.

New Year Baby – born in a Cambodian refugee camp, Socheata grew up in the United States not knowing anything about her family’s past. In New Year Baby, she journeys to Cambodia to discover the secrets of how her family came together during the Khmer Rouge period. Winner of both the “Top Ten Audience Pick” and Amnesty International’s “Movies that Matter” award at the 2006 International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam, the film discovers that what her parents hid in shame also proves their heroism.

The Imam and the Pastor – is an exploration of Christian-Muslim trust-building and partnership. The film, shot in Nigeria, shows that it is possible for the perpetrators of inter-religious violence to become instigators of peace. It is both a moving story of forgiveness and a case study of a successful grass-roots initiative to rebuild communities torn apart by conflict.

Greensboro: Closer to the Truth – reconnects 25 years later with people involved in the Greensboro Massacre of 1979—widowed and wounded survivors, along with their attackers—and chronicles how their lives have evolved in the long aftermath of the killings.

Can You Hear Me? –The film explores in depth the role of Israeli and Palestinian women peace activists dealing with one of the world’s oldest conflicts. There is bonding; there is friction; there are differences of opinion.  But these women keep on trying to hear each other and do not give up their work for peace.

Echoes across the Divide – Turkish & Greek Cypriots prepare to bridge no-man's-land with a performance like no other, from the rooftops of the old Venetian town. "Long Distance Call" by young Dutch composer Merlijn Twaalfhoven brings together musicians from both sides of the U.N. buffer zone - the infamous "Green Line" - until political reality rudely interrupts the project's grand finale.

Ladies First – 'Ladies First’ tells the stories of several amazing women who stepped up to rebuild their country following the genocide in Rwanda, after which women constituted 70% of the population.   Prior to 1994 women in Rwanda led traditional lives and roles.  However, circumstances dictated that women begin to play key roles in rebuilding the government, economy and civil society.

Joyeux Noel – On Christmas Eve of 1914 a remarkable event took place in the trenches, on the frontlines of World War I, where the Germans faced the British and the French. There was a spontaneous cease-fire as troops from the three sides laid down their weapons and observed the birth of Christ. The irony of this gesture is made clear in the opening scenes of “Joyeux Noel”, in which schoolchildren of the three nations sing with angelic fervor about the necessity of wiping the enemy from the face of the earth.

Beyond Belief –Susan Retik and Patti Quigley are two ordinary soccer moms living in the affluent suburbs of Boston until tragedy strikes. Rather than turning inwards, grief compels these women to focus on the country where the terrorists who took their husbands' lives were trained: Afghanistan.

Over the course of two years, as they cope with loss and struggle to raise their families as single mothers, these extraordinary women dedicate themselves to empowering Afghan widows whose lives have been ravaged by decades of war, poverty and oppression - factors they consider to be the root causes of terrorism. As Susan and Patti make the courageous journey from their comfortable neighborhoods to the most desperate Afghan villages, they discover a powerful bond with each other, an unlikely kinship with widows halfway around the world, and a profound way to move beyond tragedy.

From the ruins of the World Trade Center to those of Kabul and back, theirs is a journey of personal strength and international reconciliation, and a testament to the vision that peace can be forged... one woman at a time.

Encounter Point – The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is perhaps the most divisive, polarizing and documented political issue of our time. Just Vision moves beyond sensational, dogmatic and canned images to tell the story of an Israeli settler, a convicted Palestinian fighter, a bereaved Israeli mother and a wounded Palestinian ex-prisoner who sacrifice their safety, public standing, communities and homes in order to press for a grassroots movement for nonviolence and peace. Their journeys lead them to the unlikeliest places to stem hatred among their peoples and confront fear within themselves. Just Vision explores what drives these and thousands of other like-minded civilians to overcome anger and grief, and to work for peace. This film is dedicated to the thousands of Israelis and Palestinians who believe that nonviolence is the most effective means to end the conflict.

Talk Mogadishu – HornAfrik, the first independent TV and radio station in war-ravaged Mogadishu, was created in the face of chaos and devastation. A decade after the disastrous humanitarian intervention by the U.S. in Somalia, HornAfrik was established by three brave Somali-Canadians. Their vision was to forge a path to peace through freedom of expression, impartial news, and dialogue. The station's talk shows are widely popular, providing a unique way for Mogadishu's marginalized residents, including women's groups and human rights advocates, to speak out without being silenced. It is a venture not without danger; HornAfrik has been attacked more than once by angry warlords displeased with the station's content. Despite the perils, the founders of HornAfrik continue their broadcasts, creating a blueprint for the role of the media in times of conflict.

In My Country –"A beautiful and important film about South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It will engage and influence not only South Africans, but people all over the world concerned with the great questions of human reconciliation, forgiveness, and tolerance." -- Nelson Mandela

"Making this film was the most emotionally overwhelming experience of my career, dealing on a daily basis with the pain and agony of all those stories from the Apartheid past. This experience has taught me about the possibility of making the world a little better. It's truly wonderful that South Africa, which has suffered so terribly from racism, is now able to teach the world a lesson in healing. My fond hope is that the film, which is dedicated to Nelson Mandela and the oppressed of South Africa, will have captured some measure of this spirit." -- John Boorman, Director

Kontum Diary – Vietnam War veteran Paul Reed’s experiences in Vietnam left him with a deep and abiding hatred for the “enemy.” He held onto a diary in the Vietnamese language that he had found on the battlefield. Several decades later, he had the diary translated into English. Thus began his personal journey towards understanding and humanizing the enemy. The Journey Home is the story of Reed’s visit to Vietnam to return the diary to its owner, and of Reed’s successful efforts to bring Nguyen Van Nghia back to the U.S. for an operation. The story takes us from hatred to forgiveness and the healing of deep emotional scars.

Another Road Home –The New Yorker filmmaker Danae Elon is reexamining her upbringing in Jerusalem. She is looking for Musa, a Palestinian man, whom her parents had hired to be her caregiver for nearly twenty years. Musa said, “From the milk we drank together, something of my blood, my life is in you.”

Pray the Devil Back to Hell – the story of Liberian women’s incredible sacrifices and efforts for peace in their country by stopping the all-male delegates to the peace talks from leaving the conference center until they reached agreement.

Bridge Over the Wadi – focuses on the children, their parents, and the teachers at a Hand in Hand School in Israel, where Israeli Jewish and Arab kids go to school together. The film clearly shows the challenges they face in dealing with the realities in which they live, while at the same time showing that the children are the hope for a better future.