(Graphic courtesy the Global Peace Film Festival)
The Global Peace Film Festival (GPFF) returns in-person and virtually for its 19th year to bring intriguing and informative films and art exhibits to the Central Florida community.
The line-up this year focuses on a wide range of topics like the LGBTQ community, civil rights, social and environmental justice and much more.
With safety measures taking place, the event will be held in person on Sept. 21-26 at locations in Winter Park and Orlando. Tickets for these films are $10 or patrons can purchase a $125 Festival Pass that provides access to all films in person.
There will be both a ticketed and a free way to watch the virtual films that will be available from Sept. 27-Oct. 3. Both ticketed and free films will be accessible at the GPFF website – as will the filmmaker interviews and information about the in-person events.
CityArts will be displaying the artwork of Leonardo Bianchi. On Sept. 16 -Oct. 17, “DO THE EVOLUTION” will showcase 12 custom illustrations curated for the Global Peace Film Festival.
LGBTQ Films:
- “Stand Up, Stand Out: The Making of a Comedy Movement”
- Tells the story of what is believed to be the first gay-owned and operated comedy club in the USA.
- “Cured”
- The David-versus-Goliath struggle to have homosexuality removed from the American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental illnesses is chronicled.
Civil Rights Films:
- “Counter History: Rock Hill”
- Brings to life landmark the event of the civil rights movement at Rock Hill.
- “Reparations”
- Explores the legacy of slavery between Black and Asian Americans and the critical role that solidarity between communities has in acknowledging and addressing systemic racism in America.
- “No Time to Waste: The Urgent Mission of Betty Reid Hoskin”
- Introduces the audience to the legendary park ranger, telling her personal story as a young black woman in a WWII segregated union hall, through her multi-faceted career to her present public role.
Films about politics and voting:
- “Kid Candidate”
- Meet musician Hayden Pedigo who decided to run for city council in Amarillo, TX, after a spoof campaign video went viral.
- “Can You Hear Us Now?”
- follows four tireless women fighting to have their voices heard in the state of Wisconsin.
- “Out to Vote”
- The right to vote for formerly incarcerated people is made clear in “Out to Vote”. A story of the powerful positive impact of democratic engagement.
International Films with war or political conflict:
- “Atomic Cover-Up”
- Explores the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from the perspective of the brave cameramen and directors who risked their lives filming in the irradiated aftermath.
- “Soul Settlement”
- Follows a lawyer who fled from Syria then struggled for years to bring his wife and children to join him.
- “Saeed”
- Follows a Syrian family recently resettled on Long Island, NY.
- “The Crossing”
- A moving portrait of conflict, suffering, generosity and the depth of the human spirit on the Columbia/Venezuela border.
- “Others Before Self”
- Young refugees at the Tibetan Children’s Village in the Indian Himalayas learn to keep their culture after China took their country.
- “Mila”
- Shows war through a child’s perspective.
- “Greetings from Myanmar”
- A poignant take on the Myanmar conflict.
- “Sleeping Warrior”
- Follows the first female African Lacrosse team as an unprecedented opportunity transforms their humble lives.
- “Making the Impossible Possible”
- Students led a groundbreaking struggle in the late 1960s to win a Puerto Rican Studies program at Brooklyn College, NY.
- “Mission: Joy – Finding Happiness in Troubled Times”
- His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Demond Tutu give a master class in how to create joy in a world that was never easy for them. Consisting largely of never-before-seen footage shot over five days at the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamsala, India, the film invites viewers to join these luminaries behind the scenes as they recount stories from their lives.
- “A Break for Impact”
- follows a UCF legal studies professor and a group of students who journey to the US-Mexico border to witness the growing humanitarian crisis.
- “Love Reaches Everywhere”
- Actor Gerard Butler embarks on a life-changing journey to see how his mother’s favorite non-profit organization transforms the lives of children in some of the world’s poorest countries.
- “Gandhi Rediscovered”
- Working to provide different options and more hope to children of India’s “untouchable” class.
- “Son of a Sweeper”
- Follows the growing enhancement of education efforts for India’s sweeper children.
Environmental Films:
- “Reflection: A Walk with Water”
- Take a refreshing journey along the 200 miles next to the iconic Los Angeles aqueduct that offers a vision for what could happen if we designed our lives around water in a different way.
- “Seeding Change: The Power of Conscious Commerce”
- Empowers viewers to support brands and products that make positive change for the planet by “voting with their dollars.”
Music Films:
- “The Conductor”
- Follows, Marin Alsop, the first woman to be appointed as music director of a major symphony orchestra, set to a breathtaking soundtrack of her performances and unseen archival footage, tells her story from first setting her sights as a young girl on becoming a conductor to teaching the next wave of conductors.
- “Finding Howard”
- Tells the story of how a song changed the life of educator and musician David Levine and the thousands of students with whom he has worked in schools and communities across the USA.
Virtual exclusive films:
- “Balloons Over Babylon”
- Follows the vision of the world’s best hot air balloon pilots peacefully flying over Babylon and ancient Mesopotamia.
- “Building Common Ground”
- In this film, young people from diverse backgrounds attend a school that’s focus is peace and a sustainable future.
- “Khape”
- A dramatic feature film about a boy finding the value of going to school and getting an education.
- “Oleg: The Oleg Vidov Story”
- Oleg Vidov came of age in communist Russia where he was celebrated as one of the Soviet Union’s biggest movie stars but no amount of fame could save him from a system that tried to control his life.
- “The Khe Sanh Peace Garden”
- Is a portrait of a medevac pilot who found peace within himself and with his mortal enemies when he tries to build a peace garden at the Khe Sanh Combat Base where he was stationed during the Vietnam War.
- “They Are Gone”
- Montana’s crisis of missing and murdered indigenous people is explored and focuses primarily on Native voices and perspectives.
- “Emile”
- Neuroscientist Emile Bruneau’s work uses the tools of neuroscience and psychology to bring peace to people in conflict as he faces a terminal brain cancer diagnosis.
For more information about the 19th annual Global Peace Film Festival visit peacefilmfest.org
Information regarding the “DO THE EVOLUTION” art exhibition can visit the CityArts section.
