Global Peace Film Festival

Enter LPAW24 at the “Have a Discount” prompt on www.peacefilmfest.org and get a discount on your ticket!

SATURDAY, SEPT. 21, 12PM: QATAR STARS

USA/Qatar, 2024, 97 mins.

Director: Danielle Beverly

QATAR STARS is the first feature documentary about girls in Qatar. It offers a textured observational story of girlhood in all its joys and growing pains, through intimate access to a multinational, girls-only rhythmic gymnastics school in Doha, led by a former Russian gymnast. Girls from Qatar, Lebanon, Egypt, Ukraine, and UK grow up onscreen over four years, changing from wiggly nine-year-olds to maturing teens who must navigate an evolving gendered world around them. The girls experience both triumphs and heartaches, to ultimately form an unbreakable bond. Meanwhile, exacting coach Tatiana undergoes her own unexpected professional and personal transformation that challenges her sense of strength and identity.

Meet Danielle Beverly, director of Qatar Stars, the first feature documentary about girls in Qatar. The film offers a story of girlhood in all its joys and growing pains, through intimate access to a multinational, girls-only rhythmic gymnastics school in Doha. The girls experience both triumph and heartache, ultimately forming an unbreakable bond. Watch the trailer.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 21, 2:30PM: SNEAK PREVIEW

USA, 2024, 60 mins.

Director: Deirdre Fishel; Producer: Tony Heriza

Join us for a SNEAK PREVIEW of a groundbreaking documentary that documents the lives of those with Lewy Body Dementia and their caregivers. This moving new film by award-winning filmmakers Deirdre Fishel and Tony Heriza provides a rare opportunity to learn more about Lewy Body Dementia, the challenges of dementia caregiving, and the critical role of community support. This screening will be offered in partnership with local organizations, such as Central Florida Lewy Body, working with people living with Lewy Body and their care partners. The screening will also be helpful to caregivers and organizations supporting all types of dementia sufferers.

Meet award winning director Deirdre Fishel and producer Tony Heriza for the Sneak Preview screening of a moving and powerful film about the challenges and treasures of dementia caregiving. The screening of the brand new film is offered in partnership with Central Florida Lewy Body, working with people living with Lewy Body and their care partners. The screening will also be helpful to caregivers and organizations supporting all types of dementia sufferers. Saturday, Sept. 21, 2:30pm at Winter Park Library. Watch the trailer.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 21, 4:30PM: PUBLIC DEFENDER

USA, 2024, 51 mins.

Director: Andrea Kalin

What happens when a liberal public defender represents right-wing January 6th rioters? PUBLIC DEFENDER takes on America’s epidemic of division and misinformation with humanity and comic relief, showing how to restore trust and accountability one conversation at a time.

PUBLIC DEFENDER is slated to be published by The New Yorker in Fall 2024.

Meet director Andrea Kalin who shares the story of a feisty, liberal public defender in Washington DC who is assigned to represent January 6 Trump-supporting defendants who had stormed the US Capital. Public Defender takes on America’s epidemic of division and misinformation with humanity and comic relief, showing how to restore trust and accountability one conversation at a time. Watch the trailer.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 21, 6:30PM: OUR MOVEMENT STARTS HERE

USA, 2024, 88 mins.

Directors: John Rash, Melanie Dang Ho

OUR MOVEMENT STARTS HERE shows the local events that sparked the Environmental Justice movement and how well-organized, peaceful protesters can inspire great things well beyond their local concerns. In 1982, a rural, predominately Black community in North Carolina mobilized and fought the state’s plan to site a toxic PCB landfill in their county. This landmark action, the first to articulate the concepts of environmental racism and environmental justice, brought together civil rights activists and environmentalist for the first time to fight for common goals.

40 years later, the citizens of Warren County commemorate the anniversary by inspiring a new generation of environmental justice activists to push the movement into a future that grapples with the inequities of climate change, continued environmental atrocities that target poor communities of color, and a system that continues to dump on those with the least power to fight.

Meet Rev. William Kearney, one of the leaders who founded the environmental justice movement in North Carolina. He will be joined by director John Rash for the screening of Our Movement Starts Here that shows how well-organized, peaceful protestors can inspire great things well beyond their local concerns. Watch the trailer.

Enter LPAW24 at the “Have a Discount” prompt on www.peacefilmfest.org and get a discount on your ticket!