Films for Teaching Peace

Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a presidential sex scandal.

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.

The story of the first girls’ school in one small Afghan village. This documentary film traces the interconnected stories of students, teachers, village elders, parents, and school founder Razia Jan.  While the girls learn to read and write, their education goes far beyond the classroom.

A Nebraska cop serves as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia and outed the U.N. for covering up a sex scandal.

Is American foreign policy dominated by the idea of military supremacy? Has the military become too important in American life? Jarecki’s shrewd and intelligent polemic would seem to give an affirmative answer to each of these questions.

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

PBS documentary series that challenges the conventional wisdom that war and peace are men’s domain and reveals the central role of women in the quest for peace and justice in modern warfare.