Festival Panels

Panel: Eyes of the Beholder – The Role of Filmmakers in Peacebuilding

This panel brings together women filmmakers who have chosen to document and tell difficult stories not only of violence, but also of conflict transformation, reconciliation and peacebuilding. Each presenter will discuss how filmmaking has changed her from bystander to witness and the responsibility that comes with that realization. As “outsiders shooting in” intentionally to bear witness in a way that gives new texture and depth to telling the truth of the subject, especially in the age of phone video news coverage and biased media, filmmakers with integrity and purpose are likely to find themselves navigating many dilemmas: Does this connect? Is it honest? Are we desensitizing or enlightening? Whose morality are we advocating? Are our own desires and frustrations impeding the story that can help people transform from violence to respectful engagement? 

Panelists:
- Allison Lund, Progressive Pictures
- Rebecca Romani, Movies that Matter
- Kathy Sangha, Sun & Moon Vision Productions

Tiana Alexandra (Thi Thanh Nga), co-founder of the not-for-profit organization Indochina Film Arts Foundation (IFAF), is currently in Vietnam but a trailer to her purposeful documentary “Bombs Away” will be shown to further the discussions.

Moderator: Dee Aker, deputy director, Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice

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Panel: The Intersection of Arts and Academia in Peacebuilding

This panel will offer a sampling of specific examples demonstrating the potential intersection between the work of peacebuilders, scholars and artists, particularly those artists working in theater and performance arts. The panel will open with an introduction of the Theatre Without Borders/Coexistence International at Brandeis University's "Theatre & Peace Building Project," followed by case studies from the project's documentation of relevant work in Cambodia (presented by Chivy Sok and Catherine Filloux) and Serbia (presented by Dijana Milosevic of DAH Teatar.)

A summary and theoretical reflection will conclude, given by Cynthia Cohen, Ph.D., the director of Coexistence International at Brandeis University's new Recasting Reconciliation through Culture and the Arts program. Following the panel presentations, questions and reflections will be welcomed from the audience.

Moderator: Roberta Levitow, co-founder of Theatre Without Borders

Updated on 9/27/2009