"Peace It Together" Initiative will bring together Palestinian, Israeli & Canadian youth to engage in a two-week peace-building and film-making program at The Gulf Islands Film & Television School [GIFTS] on Galiano Island.

"Coming to GIFTS is not always about making a film,” says Kenna Fair, the school’s director. “Many people come here and undergo life-altering experiences, and end up learning as much about themselves through the creative process they are faced with." GIFTS provides hands-on training in a range of genres: Drama, Documentary, Visual Effects, Animation and Film. Over 1500 shorts – many award-winning - have been produced by nearly 4000 students since 1995. Students work in small teams of four, and are guided by leading industry professionals. GIFTS emphasizes independent production, respect for the creative process and cultivating students’ confidence in their own creative vision. Kenna feels that collaborating with Creative Peace Network for Peace It Together 2006 is a natural extension of the school’s vision for its second decade of media training and education. “We feel responsibility as artists and communicators to put our resources to work for the betterment of our societies.” GIFTS aspires to do this by spreading the ability to produce independent, awareness-raising media; broadening access to media education so that all voices may be empowered through this medium.

About Creative Peace Network: The Creative Peace Network Society is a diverse group committed to fostering a culture of collaboration and justice through creativity and dialogue. In this context, they engage communities in new possibilities for change, provide forums for dialogue, and act as a catalyst for creative initiatives. Based in Vancouver, the Creative Peace Network is a Canadian charitable organization. They are a non-partisan, grass roots group committed to promoting peace and harmony by ending the culture of blame, revenge and counter-revenge and building a culture of mutual respect among people affected by violent conflict. ...

Click on full story to read a full description of the workshop program.

Palestinian, Israeli Youth to Collaborate on Galiano

"Peace It Together" Initiative will bring together Palestinian, Israeli & Canadian youth to engage in a two-week peace-building and film-making program at The Gulf Islands Film & Television School

For immediate release. Vancouver, July 28th, 2006.

As the fog of war thickens in the Middle East, and broadens its impact beyond the borders of Israel and Palestine, it is more important than ever to hear hopeful news regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The lives and faces of people that do not make it to the forefront of international media may have a different story to tell. The stories of such people are often lost and forgotten amid the darkness of bloodshed and suffering. It is especially important to know that despite the severe situation, there are many people determined to build momentum towards reconciliation and peace. Their stories bring a ray of light and hope.

One such story – or in fact, thirty of them - is unfolding this summer among the serene rainforest of British Columbia’s Gulf Islands. Thirty youth from Palestine, Israel and Canada will gather at the Gulf Islands Film and Television School on Galiano Island to engage in creative conversations and filmmaking in a peaceful and safe environment of mutual respect and co-existence for 18 days. The summer program is appropriately named Peace It Together.

The organizers of this unusual peace initiative believe that Peace it Together is more relevant now than it has ever been. “As violence escalates, people become more polarized and more emotional”, says Reena Lazar, a Jewish-Canadian and an executive director of Creative Peace Network. “This, of course, is the exact opposite of what is needed. While our program is unlikely to solve the current crisis, it will give the participants the unique opportunity to work through their fear and anger in a safe environment and with the very people to whom their feelings are directed”.

Adri Hamael, a Palestinian-Canadian and an executive director of the organization adds, “Through dialogue and filmmaking, the youth and their audiences will have the chance to struggle with and make sense of the conflict that impacts so many lives. I'm hoping that adults around the world, and particularly back in the participant’s homelands, will listen to what these young people will have to say.”

This is the second peace summer camp initiated and organized by Creative Peace Network, a Vancouver-based multicultural charity committed to promoting peace by ending the culture of revenge and counter-revenge, and by building a culture of mutual respect and understanding between Palestinians, Israelis, Jews, Muslims and Arabs. The organization is made up of, and lead by, equal numbers of Palestinian, Israeli, Jewish, Muslim, Arab and Canadian members.

The program will be mentored by leading filmmakers and educators from British Columbia, one of whom is Velcrow Ripper, a documentary filmmaker and winner of two Genie Awards (ScaredSacred, Bones of the Forest), a spiritual activist and co-founder of the Gulf Islands Film and Television School. “In this tragic time of dramatically escalating war and bloodshed in the middle east, we desperately need stories of hope, possibility and reconciliation”, Says Ripper. “Peace It Together is one such flower rising from the wreckage, offering a critical opportunity for Israeli and Palestinian youth to step outside the pressure cooker of war and spend time learning to recognize their shared humanity, using creativity to help tear down the walls of misunderstanding, building new bridges to peace”.

Preparing for the program has already had a significant impact on the local community. The process requires constant dialogue, listening, self-awareness and transformation – and every single person in the project is exposed to this process: the board of directors, members, volunteers, and the staff at the Gulf Islands Film and Television School – and of course, the participants.

“As we prepare for the program, we realize how much impact this project has already had on our lives in raising our awareness of the issues and cultural differences”, says Kenna Fair, director of the Gulf Islands Film and Television School. “Everything has to be thought of to the last detail in order to accommodate the students’ needs and the program’s integrity. We’ve ensured, to the best of our ability, that there are an equal number of male and female mentors, Jewish and Muslim mentors, and so on. Our catering service has been altered completely to accommodate the regulations of the Kosher and Hallal kitchens that many of the students observe. We hope that if we can create, along with the students and mentors, an environment of co-existence within our school – it will be a memory and an example for them to take home and live by in the future”.

Peace It Together will celebrate its successful step towards peace with an August 20th Gala, and a public screenings of the participants’ films, both at the HR Macmillan Space Centre Gala and the August 19th premiere on Galiano Island. The youth will be present at the Gala screening to present their films, and will be available to answer questions from the audience. After the 21st the participants will return to their homelands with their own films in hand, a message of hope which they will be able to share with the world in international film festivals – but most importantly, share with their families, friends and classmates back home.

-30-

Media contact: Ayala Sender (778) 863-0806
ayala@hellocoolworld.com

Available for interviews:
Adri Hamael – Creative Peace Network Executive Director, Palestinian Canadian
Reena Lazar – Creative Peace Network Executive Director, Jewish Canadian
Hila Russ-Woodland – Creative Peace Network Director, Israeli Canadian
Omar Kassis – Creative Peace Network Director, Palestinian Canadian
Kenna Fair – Executive Director of The Gulf Islands Film and Television School
Sonia Theroux – Communications Coordinator, The Gulf Islands Film and Television School
Velcrow Ripper – Mentor at the Gulf Islands film and Television School, an award winning Filmmaker (ScaredSacred, Bones of the Forest) and a Spiritual Activist


Background Information about Peace It Together

What
Peace It Together 2006 is a peace summer camp focused on conflict resolution and transformation through filmmaking and team building.

When
August 4th-21st, 2006

Schedule of Events
August 4th – Youth from Palestine and Israel gather in Vancouver, Press Conference (location and time TBA)
August 6th – Travel to Galiano Island
August 7th-19th - Filmmaking Summer Program at the Gulf Islands Film and Television School
August 19th – Premiere Screening 7:00pm Galiano Island
August 20th –Screening Gala 7:00 PM HR Macmillan Space Centre

Where
- Greeting and orientation meetings in Vancouver; Home stay in Vancouver prior to the summer camp (until August 6th and after August 19th)
- The filmmaking summer camp will take place at the Gulf Islands Film and Television School, Galliano Island, BC.
- The Gala and Grand Finale, where the films will be screened and viewed and open to the public, will take place at the HR Macmillan Space Centre (1100 Chestnut Street Vancouver – by the Vancouver Museum) Tel. (604) 738-7827

Who
- 10 Israeli Youth, 10 Palestinian Youth, 6-10 Canadian Youth from multicultural backgrounds.
- The mentors and instructors are also from diverse and multicultural backgrounds.

How were the youth selected?
The youth were selected by Creative Peace Network’s Palestinian & Israeli Steering Committee, consisting of 2 Palestinian and 2 Israeli local coordinators. The youth are all from diverse cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds: the Palestinian youth come from both the West Bank and Israel; the Israeli youth come from different areas across Israel (from within the Green Line), and the Canadian youth are from different religious and cultural backgrounds – Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Arab, etc.

How will the program achieve its goals?
Activities will focus on dialogue and listening exercises, leadership training, outdoor and wilderness experiences, and filmmaking. In small multi-cultural groups, the youth will collaborate on creating drama, documentary or animated short films about how the conflict impacts their lives, their hopes and their fears. The filmmaking process is ideal for learning to collaborate, and building strong bonds. It also enables the youth to take home a tangible skill they can reuse, and a tangible product that they can share with the world and communicate through.

The program will continue throughout the year. Before leaving the summer program, the youth will plan for the reunions and follow-up activities to take place either in the Middle East or, for the Canadian youth, in Canada. The follow-up programs will be coordinated by Regional Coordinators. This year we are collaborating with representatives from “Peace Camp Canada” to help select the Israeli and Palestinian youth and to coordinate follow up activities and reunions in the Middle East.

Why
The Creative Peace Network believes that peace can be achieved through creativity and education. Now, more than ever, the organizers of Peace It Together feel it is essential to break the circle of fear, pain, hatred and revenge, and to build bridges between the Palestinian and Israeli communities. Through creative process the participants and organizers alike are cultivating a culture of mutual respect and understanding that will, eventually, lead towards peace.


About Creative Peace Network
The Creative Peace Network Society is a diverse group committed to fostering a culture of collaboration and justice through creativity and dialogue. In this context, they engage communities in new possibilities for change, provide forums for dialogue, and act as a catalyst for creative initiatives.
Based in Vancouver, the Creative Peace Network is a Canadian charitable organization. They are a non-partisan, grass roots group committed to promoting peace and harmony by ending the culture of blame, revenge and counter-revenge and building a culture of mutual respect among people affected by violent conflict.

The group formed as they began to plan the first Peace it Together program for Canadian and Middle Eastern Arab and Jewish youth. Inspired by similar programs from around the world, Peace it Together 2004 used arts, and team-building and dialogue exercises to enable the youth participants to learn from one another. Besides the annual Peace It Together summer camp, the Creative Peace Network maintains a year-around community outreach program titled “Learning Commons” – a monthly living-room discussion-group open to all members of the community who want to engage in seeking out new points of view and transforming the spaces that divide communities into places where new possibilities occur.
“Creativity is essential for conflict transformation as it requires letting go of old barriers, such as fear and mistrust, and making way for something new”, Says Reena Lazar, a Jewish Canadian, and the organization’s other Executive Director. Reena adds: “This time we are focusing on film-making because it’s a great way to teach the youth about constructive communication and team work and to help them realize how much power they have to change their world."

http://creativepeacenetwork.ca/
307 - 1591 West 16th Avenue
Vancouver, BC, Canada V6J 2L7
info@creativepeacenetwork.ca


About the Gulf Islands Film and Television School
The Gulf Islands Film and Television School (GIFTS) is a media production training facility on Galiano Island, BC. GIFTS provides a safe and stimulating creative environment, where people of all ages and backgrounds can comfortably share their ideas, dreams and passions as well as fears. GIFTS has a long history of working with diverse groups and organizations on special projects, including: Aboriginal Media Production Programs, Activist Documentary Programs, a project with the Moscow International Film School, Peer Perspectives (a video production program for marginalized youth), Smoke Screen I & II (tobacco-counter marketing PSAs, with The Access to Media Education Society), Road Sense PSAs with ICBC, and NFB co-productions including Arts for Action.

"Coming to GIFTS is not always about making a film,” says Kenna Fair, the school’s director. “Many people come here and undergo life-altering experiences, and end up learning as much about themselves through the creative process they are faced with."

GIFTS provides hands-on training in a range of genres: Drama, Documentary, Visual Effects, Animation and Film. Over 1500 shorts – many award-winning - have been produced by nearly 4000 students since 1995. Students work in small teams of four, and are guided by leading industry professionals. GIFTS emphasizes independent production, respect for the creative process and cultivating students’ confidence in their own creative vision.

Kenna feels that collaborating with Creative Peace Network for Peace It Together 2006 is a natural extension of the school’s vision for its second decade of media training and education. “We feel responsibility as artists and communicators to put our resources to work for the betterment of our societies.” GIFTS aspires to do this by spreading the ability to produce independent, awareness-raising media; broadening access to media education so that all voices may be empowered through this medium.

http://giftsfilms.com/
S-43, C-12, RR#2, Galiano Island, BC CANADA V0N 1P0
Tel.: (250) 539-5729 Toll Free: 1-800 813-9993
gifts@gulfislands.com