Thursday, April 5, the Gum-boot Café in Roberts Creek will screen seven short films made by a group of Israeli, Palestinian and Canadian youth who participated in the Peace It To-gether project this summer.
There will also be a screening of a unique behind-the-scenes documentary about the peace camp and how the films were made. The screenings will be followed by a discussion with some of the filmmakers, participants and organizers.
Last August, the youth participated in a unique peace and filmmaking camp at the Gulf Islands Film and Television School on Galiano Island. Organized by the Creative Peace Network, the three-week experience brought together bitter enemies from across the globe to the forests of British Columbia where they learned to live and co-create in harmony. On Galiano they worked in small groups to create original films about their lives, hopes and fears. The experience was transformative for the youth involved.
Award-winning filmmakers Arlene Nova Ami and Erik Paulsson of Red Storm Productions followed the students for the duration of their three-week experience for the purposes of creating a feature length documentary about the youths' journey. Now they are trying to fundraise so they can go to Israel and Palestine to follow these youth over the next year as they take their films into their communities. For this screening, Ami and Paulsson have edited some of their footage to create a 22-minute behind-the-scenes documentary that will give audiences a glimpse into the students' experiences.
All proceeds from this event will go towards the Creative Peace Network (www.creativepeacenetwork.ca) and to aid in the production of an inspirational documentary on the Peace It Together project by Red Storm Productions.
