I can't believe no one has written about this wonderful documentary. It has been shown around the world for over a year by now, in many festivals and shown a few times in various TV channels around the world. It is an amazing story of how one man's dream becomes a reality, and a case where a movie has actually made a difference and changed reality. It may not have gotten its purpose achieving cease fires around the world, but the 21st of September is marked as the International Day of Peace. It is amazing that the declaration of the day at the UN took place on September 11th, 2001
A Must see movie that may actually may get you choked up towards the end.
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eroka17 September 2005
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rodepipo22 September 2005Amazing....yesterday I watched this powerful, moving documentary about the "peace one day" movement, and I was disappointed in myself that yesterday was the first time I heard about it! The other three comments are also from the last few days.... I really hope that this caring and special idea, as presented in this film, will be known and carried out all over the world. Peace for 365 days will start with One Day! For now there is no official followup in that the UN will actually lay down their arms for one day, or any other group at war, but the practical aspects take time and the movie gives a good example of how one person, with back-up, can make a difference for all.
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slappy76-220 September 2005Sure everyone wants world peace. Who doesn't? Often times I've asked myself "What can I do to make a difference? I am merely one man." Jeremy makes a believer out of me. This is a man who plays the game of life on another level. In this documentary he has taken on the challenge to establish a day of peace that is recognized around the world. This movie documents his years of travels to distant lands meeting with countless heads of state and Nobel peace laureates. He is met with obstacles that would discourage most anyone, yet he forges on. After years of work the UN general council pass the amendment. There are moments of bitter irony when the declaration was to be held on the morning of Sept 11. In my lifetime, I hope to see his documentary extended to include footage of the day where we all have peace one day. Mark your calendars it's Sept 21.
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carl_kenner20 September 2005This is a very well-made documentary. Jeremy is not just a skillful political activist, he really knows how to make a good movie. You will definitely be drawn in to his struggle to create a global ceasefire for one day each year. If this film doesn't inspire you to take political action, nothing will. The story is one about an ordinary person (who happens to be a minor movie-maker) who decides to do something to change the world. His quest takes him around the world to the conflict hot-spots such as in Africa and the middle east, to schools around the world, to visit religious leaders like the Dalai Lama, and to meetings with world leaders and the United Nations (in a borrowed suit and last-minute haircut). Seeing him get ordinary Palestinians and Israelis together in a room discussing their desires for peace, or listening to the young people in Africa arguing about whether it will work, was a nice touch. Of course, the real ending to this movie depends on what political actions YOU take after you watch it. A global ceasefire can't exist unless you join the protest to force governments to do it.
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tshuva-trip12 September 2006This is an amazing film and experience.
Everyone in the world should see it and think and talk about peace. That's what it's like to watch this film. Turn off the lights and phones, go to the bathroom, eat something and get a comfy chair and watch this film.
One of the most powerful things about this film experience for me was when Gilley visited children and had dialogues about peace with them. To have simple dialogues at early ages, even if our lives show us otherwise along the way, can still help bring about peace in the world. And how! Tremendously!
Sparks of peace go off while watching this film. There is no other movie like it. I wholeheartedly support the International Day of Peace and Peace One Day and believe that this film is part of a movement for peace, acceptance and love throughout the world. I rarely support dubbing over subtitles, but in this case I believe that this film should be dubbed in the languages of hostile nations and cultures and shown to the children, become a cult classic, and peace shall prevail. :D -
I've seen this film for the first time tonight. I was moved to tears. Jeremy Gilley's idea to set aside one day of every year to declare cessation of war is a brilliant idea, not unlike giving up an addiction step by step. Paradoxically, it's on days like September 11, 2001, and today, July 26, 2006, that we need the message more than ever.
One key point of the movie is in the final scene with Jeremy's interview of Ahmad Fawzi of the UN. Mr. Fawzi made the point that resolutions and concerts are well and good, but are not substitutes for individuals in action. All governments in theory are representative of the will of constituents, the driving force behind social change. Milestones like the UN resolution 55/282 are the results of Jeremy's actions; it remains incumbent upon us as individuals to express our desires to end the suffering and squander of war, and as societies, to learn from those who have a vision of something better. That's probably why he received an audience with so many world leaders, including a contentious session at a meeting of the Organization of Arab States.
One moving part for me was hearing a Palestinian who turned away from violence after nearly losing his life in a premature explosion of a bomb. Another scene had Arabs and Jews from the same Israeli town who came together to have a dialog on overcoming generations of hatred. I rarely found the movie bogged down in details, and for a documentary was well edited, including the 9/11 sequences from NYC.
The message I come away with is to be 'for something and against nothing', in other words, proactive for peace and the prosperity that comes with tolerance. In the words of Margaret Mead, "Never doubt that a small, highly committed group of individuals can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." The website http://www.peaceoneday.org/ keeps bringing the message of the movie into action.