Films on Peace — Peace, Conflict, and Social Justice

This roster was originally created by J. Douglas Archer of Notre Dame Univeristy and circulated by the Peace and Justice Studies Association. It has subsequently been augmented by other members of PJSA and also by members of the Steering Committee for Peace, Justice & Conflict Transformation at the University of Louisville. Such different sources explains the different formatting below, including some duplication.

Gacaca: Living Together Again in Rwanda? (2002)
Anne Aghion.

Examines the implementation of Gacaca (Ga-CHA-cha) Tribunals, an attempt at reconciliation based on indigenous Rwamdam cultural practices. www.anneaghionfilms.com

In Rwanda We Say... The Family That Does Not Speak Dies. (2004)
Anne Aghion.

A sequel to Gacaca: Living Together Again in Rwanda? based on interviews conducted two years after the initiation of this reconciliation process.

A Healing River: An Invitation to Explore Order Restorative Justice Material Now Restorative Justice Values & Principles. (2005)
Restorative Justice Circle, L. Moore and C. Douglas. www.heartspeakproductions.ca

Faces of the Enemy. (1987)
Bill Jersey and Jeffrey Friedman

A modern classic, based on the book by Sam Keen. Examines the process of demonization and consequent dehumanization which almost always precedes and accompanies violent conflict. www.newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0174

Never Again? Genocide Since the Holocaust
Though the phrase “Never Again” became something of a mantra after World War II, this film documents genocide’s repetition during the last fifty years. https://www.films.com/id4109Never_Again_Genocide_Since_the_Holocaust.htm

Shake Hands with the Devil. (2005)
Peter Raymont, Lindalee Tracey and Roméo Dallaire.

An account of Canadian General Roméo Dallaire’s futile efforts to avert genocide as the commander of UN peacekeepers during the Rwandan genocide. www.newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0175

Mandela: The Living Legend (2003)
A recent biography of Nelson Mandela produced by the BBC. It includes extensive archival news coverage along with interviews with Mandela, Bill Clinton, Fidel Castro, and Desmond Tutu. http://www.films.com/id/6373/Mandela_The_Living_Legend.htm

Aung San Suu Kyi (1995)
Describes the rise to prominence of leading political dissident and Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and her leadership of the democracy movement in Myanmar (Burma). http://www.films.com/id/10761/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi.htm

The Battle of Algiers (1967)
A classic documentary commissioned by the Algerian government covering both the French Foreign Legion and the Algerians struggling for independence. It is noted for its depiction of the effects of war on all parties to a conflict.

J. Douglas Archer
Peace Studies, Global Affairs and Political Science Librarian
University of Notre Dame

Also:

Paths of Glory
The Fog of War
Why We Fight
Joyeux Noel – A Tri-lingual (English, French, German) film about the Christmas Truce of 1914 – I have shown this one many times since it was produced (usually for my fall classes – and then shown in the last class of the semester before the Christmas break).

At the Gate: Palestinian Nonviolence (2010)
"Why don't Palestinians just use nonviolence--they will surely win?" ask many well-meaning people. This original documentary film answers the question. Palestinians have been using nonviolent resistance for all of their history. Hear in their own voices how and why it works.

Choose Life (1984)
The historic march for world peace when over a million people gathered in New York City to call for an end to the nuclear arms race on June 12, 1982.

Encounter Point (2006)
The story of an Israeli settler, a Palestinian ex-prisoner, a bereaved Israeli mother and a wounded Palestinian bereaved brother who risk their lives in order to press for a grassroots movement for nonviolence and peace.

Everyday Rebellion (2013)
A documentary about modern and creative forms of nonviolent protest and civil disobedience.

Harvest for Peace (1985)
U.S. volunteers travel to a war zone in Nicaragua during the height of the U.S.-backed Contra war and Sandinista revolution in the mid-1980s to harvest cotton in a unique citizen-to-citizen peace effort.

Healing the Wounds of War (2004)
A film about the work of Paula Green and the U.S.-based Karuna Center For Peace Building with Serb and Muslim teachers seeking to rebuild and reunite their devastated communities in the aftermath of the war in Bosnia.

Le Chambon (Weapons of the Spirit) (1987)
During World War II, in and around one village in Nazi-occupied France, 5,000 Jews were sheltered—by 5,000 Christians. The astonishing story of a unique conspiracy of goodness.

Long Walk Home (1990)
The story of the Birmingham bus boycott is filled with moving, insightful moments.

Love & Solidarity (2015)
Told with passion and sharp political insight, Love and Solidarity brings to the fore the voices of people on the front lines of social change, most especially James Lawson, who is a decades-long practitioner of nonviolence. It is a must see for students, teachers, and activists to think about the legacy of civil rights activism and to understand the roots of contemporary political organizing.

Mighty Times: The Children's March (2004)
The children of Baltimore, Maryland take to the streets to fight for civil rights in 1963.

Paradise Now (2005)
Khaled (Ali Suliman) and Said (Kais Nashef) are Palestinian friends recruited by a terrorist group to become suicide bombers in Tel Aviv. Armed with explosives, they attempt to cross into Israel, but are pursued by suspicious border guards. Khaled returns to the terrorists, while Said sneaks into Israel and ponders detonating at another target. After Khaled and Said reunite to begin their mission again, Khaled has reconsidered, and tries to convince Said to give up the bombing as well.

Romero (1989)
The life and work of Archbishop Oscar Romero who opposed, at great personal risk, the tyrannical repression in El Salvador.

Selma (2014)
A chronicle of Martin Luther King Jr.’s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965.

The Peace Patriots (2006)
A chronicle of the early protests against the U.S. invasion and military occupation of Iraq as seen through a diverse group of individuals.

True Colors (1991)
TV cameras follow two young men, one white, one black, to reveal prejudice.

Violence: An American Tradition (1995)
Exploration of the tradition of violence in the United States of America, drawing on the history of invading settlers and native peoples, frontier outlaws and modern-day murderers, racist violence, the urban underclass, and domestic abuse.

Voices for Peace (2001)
Chronicles the first anti-war protests in Washington, DC and New York City following the 9/11 attacks.

Waltz with Bashir (2008)
Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman wrote, directed and stars in this autobiographical animated film. As a 19-year-old infantry soldier in the 1982 war with Lebanon, Folman witnessed the Sabra and Shatila massacre, but realizes that he has no memory of the event. In 2006, he seeks out others who were in Beirut at the time to discuss their memories, including a psychologist specializing in post-traumatic stress disorders and the first journalist to cover the massacre.

Witness (1985)
Alternative perspectives on violence are explored through the story of an Amish boy who is witness to a murder.

Witness to War (1985)
A former Air Force pilot becomes a doctor to serve in El Salvador's war zones.

The Imam and the Pastor (2006)
Muslim-Christian relations in Nigeria.

Paths of Glory (1957)
After refusing to attack an enemy position, a general accuses the soldiers of cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.

Joyeux Noel (2005)
A tri-lingual film about the Christmas Truce of 1914.

A Healing River - An Invitation to Explore Restorative Justice Values & Principles (2004)
A documentary using the voices of practioners, victims, and offenders to explore the meaning and values of restorative justice.

Shake Hands with the Devil (2005)
An account of Canadian Romeo Dallaire's furtile efforts to avert genocide as the commander of UN peacekeepers during the Rwandan genocide.