The film program begins on September 20th with screenings in the Bush Auditorium
and Sun Trust Auditorium at Rollins College and at the First Congregational Church in
Winter Park. In downtown Orlando, films will be shown at the Plaza Cinema Café and
the Gallery at Avalon Island. The program includes 45 films from six continents as well
as films from local Florida filmmakers.
Special film events include a screening and panel discussion at the Orlando Science
Center on Saturday, September 24th, the presentation of two films and discussion at the
Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center on Sunday, September 25th and a
screening in the Performing Arts Center at Valencia College on September 21st.
OTHER GPFF EVENTS:
Sunday, September 18th, 10am – 3pm: Global Peace Street Fair and Pet Parade for Peace
on Morse Blvd. between Park and Knowles Aves., Winter Park. Peace and “green”
vendors. Pet parade begins at 11. Live acoustic music. FREE.
Monday, September 19th, 5 – 6:30pm: Reception/Awards ceremony for the sixth year,
the OCPS Service Learning/GPFF Peace Art Exhibit by K-12 students will be on display
in the Rotunda of Orlando’s City Hall. Over 40 public and charter schools participate.
FREE. The exhibit will be on display throughout the festival.
Tuesday, September 20th, 6 – 7:30pm: Party at Bajalia, 520 S. Park Ave., Winter
Park. Filmmakers and special guests celebrate the opening of the film festival. Light
refreshments. FREE and open to the public.
Friday, September 23rd, 6 – 8pm: Party at Ten Thousand Villages, 346 N. Park
Ave., Winter Park. Join filmmakers and special guests for a shopping party. Light
refreshments. FREE and open to the public.
FILM PROGRAM:
The film festival opens with a free outdoor screening on the lawn at Rollins College of
Fire in Babylon (UK, 2010, 82 mins.), the breathtaking story of one of the most gifted
teams in sporting history. There will be live music, spoken word and a drumming circle
to celebrate the International Day of Peace before the screening begins.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu Tum inspired and is featured in 2012: The
True Mayan Prophecy (USA/Guatemala, 2011, 50 mins.) along with fellow laureates
the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The After Party (USA, 2010, 64 mins.)
features Andre ‘3000’ Benjamin at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New
York City in a story about domestic surveillance and civil liberties in the post 9/11
era. Australian-Hungarian filmmaker Peter Hegedus explores his relationship with the
America of his childhood in My America (Auatralia/China/Hungary, 2011, 88 mins.).
Narrative films in this year’s program include The Trotsky (Canada, 2010, 114 mins.), a
comedic coming-of-age story and the southeast premiere of Golf in the Kingdom (USA,
2011, 86 mins.), the film adaptation of Michael Murphy’s classic novel – the best selling
work of fiction ever written about the game of golf.
Films about the environment and sustainability are showcased each year in the GPFF
and focus on SOLUTIONS. Carbon Nation (USA, 2010, 86 mins.) presents ideas about
action we can all take to reduce our carbon footprint. Why? Because it’s good business.
An ordinary guy wants to do the right thing for his daughter by taking steps to stop global
warming in How to Boil a Frog (Canada, 2010, 87 mins.). Overdrive: Istanbul in the
New Millenium (Turkey/USA, 2011, 64 mins.) explores a city coming to terms with
accelerated population growth and car-centric policies where congestion and pollution are
overshadowing the joy of living in the beautiful city. Body image and our relationship
to food are explored in Off the Menu (USA, 2011, 45 mins.) that will screen with Food
for Granted (USA, 2011, 11 mins.) and Lunch (USA, 2010, 25 mins.), that examine food
waste and school food.
Travel around the world in film with Egypt: The Story Behind the Revolution;
Operation Peter Pan: Flying Back to Cuba; Tanzania – A Friendship Journey and
Venezuela [sur] Realista. The history of Haiti is interwoven with the extraordinary story
of Orchestre Septentrional in When the Drum is Beating (USA/Haiti, 2011, 84 mins.)
and The Truth that Wasn’t There (UK/Sri Lanka, 2010, 88 mins.) witnesses the end
of the decades-long civil war in Sri Lanka. Two programs about the Middle East will
be presented. My So-Called Enemy (USA, 2010, 89 mins.) introduces 22 Palestinian,
Israeli and Palestinian Israeli teenage girls who participate in a women’s leadership
program and how the experience of knowing their “enemies” as human beings meets
with the realities of their lives at home over the next seven years. A unique collaboration
of the Tel Aviv University Film & TV Department brought together young Israeli and
Palestinian filmmakers to create a series of short films, all dealing with the project title
Coffee – Between Reality and Imagination. Eight short films, four by Israeli filmmakers
and four by Palestinians, give a personal point of view on the reality in which they live.
Three films, Atomic Mom (US/Japan, 2010, 80mins.), In My Lifetime (USA, 2011,
109mins.) and Into Eternity (Denmark, 2010, 75 mins.) examine shed light on different
perspectives on nuclear weapons and nuclear power.
Issues confronting soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are examined in On the
Bridge (France/USA, 2010, 96 mins.) while The Patriot Guard Riders (USA, 2011,
73 mins.) takes us on a solemn journey astride souped-up motorcycles to funerals of
young soldiers killed in action and Semper Fi: Always Faithful (USA, 2011, 75 mins.)
uncovers the US Department of Defense’s role in the unprecedented number of cancer
cases and deaths at Camp Lejeune.
A mother and daughter are reunited after being separated by war in Pushing the
Elephant (Kenya/Rwanda/USA, 2010, 85 mins.). Defining Beauty: Ms. Wheelchair
America (USA, 2011, 79 mins.) follows the vibrant lives of five women on their journey
to the 2010 Ms. Wheelchair America pageant and feminist activist Charlotte Bunch
is profiled in Passionate Politics: The Life & Work of Charlotte Bunch (Peru/South
Africa/USA, 2011, 60 mins.).
Gainesville homeless advocate Pat Fitzpatrick argues for a more compassionate stance
towards the city’s homeless in Civil Indigent (USA, 2010, 55 mins.) and in Project
Happiness (USA, 2011, 62 mins.) a group of teens, each facing loss, alienation and the
everyday challenges of being a teenager, explore the nature of lasting happiness.
Many filmmakers will be on hand to answer questions after the screenings of their films.
In addition to the films, there will be discussion panels throughout the week. Topics
include “What is Peace?” (9/21, 4pm.); “Making Films that Make a Difference,” (9/22,
4pm.) featuring local and visiting filmmakers; “Peace Pitch,” (9/23. 4pm.) with Daniel
Karslake discussing his work-in-progress, “Every Three Seconds” about the potential
to end world hunger and extreme poverty; and an Issues Forum on Media Coverage of
Peace & Environment issues (9/24, 11am). These four panels will be in the Bush Science
Building, Room 120 at Rollins College.
Two other panel discussions will take place following screenings: one after the screening
of “Carbon Nation” at the Orlando Science Center (9/24, 1pm). And on Sunday (9/25,
6pm.), local faith leaders in Central Florida brought together by the Interfaith Council of
Central Florida, will discuss film the issues raised in the film “Pushing the Elephant.”
Tickets to GPFF screenings are $8 each, and are on sale now. Tickets may be purchased
online at http://globalpeace.slated.com/2011/schedule/week or at each venue during
festival hours. Patrons may purchase a Silver Pass for $99 or a Gold Pass for $199 at
http://peacefilmfest.org/ that are good for admission to all festival screenings and events.
