Presented and Facilitated by the Desmond Tutu Center for Peace, Reconciliation and Global Justice, The Center for Interfaith Cooperation, Butler University’s Amnesty International and The Center for Faith and Vocation at Butler University.
Each of us has a unique view through which we see the world. Shaped by our experiences, culture, and familial identity, this view forms our beliefs, values, and way of life. A New View Film Series will journey outside everyday life to explore new world views through the screening of five films. Each screening will be followed by a discussion of the film lead by Louise Henderson, former Festival Director and Head Documentary Programmer for Heartland Film Festival, now an independent film producer and film festival consultant. The series will take place every other month from August 2015 through April 2016 at Butler University’s Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall. The series is free and open to the public.
Film Screening Calendar:
ARRANGED – Thursday, August 20, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. in Butler University’s Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall
Arranged centers on the friendship between an Orthodox Jewish woman and a Muslim woman who meet as first-year teachers at a public school in Brooklyn. Over the course of the year they learn they share much in common – not least of which is that they are both going through the process of arranged marriages. Learn more.
BEYOND RIGHT AND WRONG – Thursday, October 22, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. in Butler University’s Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall
In the stillness after conflict, after the blood dries and the screams fade, the memory of violence transforms survivors into prisoners of their own pain. How do whole societies recover from devastating conflict? Can survivors live—converse, smile, and even laugh—beside someone who blinded them, killed their parents, or murdered their children? Can victims and perpetrators work together to rebuild their lives? This life-changing documentary explores the intersections of justice and forgiveness as survivors heal from these tragedies. Learn more.
THE CITIZEN – Thursday, December 3, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. in Butler University’s Ford Salon
Yearning to leave behind his life of misfortune in the Middle East, Ibrahim Jarrah wins the U.S. Green Card Lottery for a chance to become an American citizen. Ibrahim lands in New York City the day before 9/11, and the events of the September terrorist attacks forever shape the struggles he faces on his journey to capture the American dream. Inspired by true events, The Citizen is a gripping tale of courage, love, and perseverance, the qualities of a true citizen. Learn more.
THE REDEMPTION OF GENERAL BUTT NAKED – Thursday, February 18, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. in Butler University’s Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall
This film is the story of Joshua Milton Blahyi – aka General Butt Naked – a brutal warlord who murdered thousands during Liberia’s horrific 14-year civil war. Today, the General has renounced his violent past and reinvented himself as Evangelist Joshua Milton Blahyi. This portrait takes viewers on Joshua’s crusade to redeem his past, as he confronts his victims and attempts to rehabilitate the former child soldiers who once fought for him. Whatever you make of him – liar or madman, charlatan or genuine repentant – the film challenges viewers to ask important questions about both the power and the limits of forgiveness, amid a nation’s search for healing and justice. This film contains violent themes and graphic scenes from the Liberian civil war. Learn more.
DANCING IN JAFFA – Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. in Butler University’s Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall
Pierre Dulaine, an internationally renowned ballroom dancer, fulfills a life-long dream when he takes his program, Dancing Classrooms, back to his city of birth, Jaffa. Over a ten-week period, Pierre teaches 10-year-old Jewish and Palestinian Israeli children to dance and compete together. Dancing in Jaffa explores the complex stories of three different children who are forced to confront issues of identity, segregation and racial prejudice as they dance with their enemy. The classroom becomes a microcosm of the Middle East’s struggle to work together harmoniously while still caught in the politics of the region and race. With the guidance of Pierre, the children learn to dance together and trust one another. Dancing In Jaffa offers an up-close-and-personal perspective of how the future might unfold if the art of movement and dance could triumph over the politics of history and geography. Learn more.
