The second annual Peace on Earth Film Festival is about to get under way this weekend in the hometown of the first US President to win a Nobel Peace Prize: Chicago. If you can’t make it to the ‘Windy City’ for the unique event, here are some of the highlights:
Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home, Directed by Jenny Stein: Combining the gripping testimony of farmers breaking a long-held code of silence with rare footage demonstrating the rich emotional lives of farm animals, this new documentary from the award-winning filmmakers of THE WITNESS invites viewers on an epic journey of awakening conscience.
Marathon Beirut, Directed by Deborah Harse: Neither the Israeli/Lebanon War of 2006, the assassination of a Government Minster (Pierre Gemayel) nor the calling by Hezbollah for the overthrow of the Lebanese Gov. could stop Marathon Beirut from hosting 22,000 runners in a run “…for the Love of Lebanon."
Nico’s Challenge, Directed by Steve Audette: A story of a 13 year-old boy who faces special challenges as he climbs mount Kilimanjaro, the worlds highest freestanding mountain. His goal, to raise money and deliver free wheelchairs to the people of Tanzania. This coming of age adventure has some unexpected twists that push this child to his limits.
Dive, Directed by Jeremy Seifert: Follow the filmmaker and his circle of friends as they dumpster dive in the back alleys and gated garbage receptacles of L.A.'s supermarkets. In the process they uncover thousands of dollars worth of good food and an ugly truth about waste in America: grocery stores know they are wasting and most refuse to do anything about it.
Ape Trouble, Directed by Scott Dikkers: Gorillas have it rough. At a very young age Billy the Gorilla is snatched from his mother and placed inside the Taylor-Cornelius Primate Research Center for testing and education. Upon his release into the cold and bitter city, he finds that there is one lesson his lab-coated schoolmasters neglected to teach him.
You can watch the trailers for these and all the peace-themed films here.
The Second Annual Peace On Earth Film Festival, hosted by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs will open Friday, February 26, and run through Sunday, February 28, 2010, in the historic Chicago Cultural Center’s Claudia Cassidy Theater, 78 E. Washington Street, Chicago, IL 60602. Admission is free and open to the public.
