Coming to theatres this Friday, November 11: DISTURBING THE PEACE
Stephen Apkon and Andrew Young’s look at the efforts of former soldiers to find common ground debuted at Ebertfest this year. It went on to screen at Jerusalem, Traverse City, Hamptons, and the San Francisco Jewish fests.
The film focuses on the group Combatants for Peace, which unites former elite Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters and ex-prisoners as nonviolent peace activists. Filming over the course of two years, Apkon and Young first profile their various subjects, detailing when they came to the realization that they had to take steps to find a path towards a resolution to the ceaseless conflict in their region. Eventually, as detailed here, these various men and women meet and begin working together to bring attention to their non-violent goals of ending the occupation and encouraging cross-cultural dialogue. While not covering any new ground in this well-worn doc topic, and utilizing some unfortunate re-enactments that cheapen the proceedings, the film does have a positive, worthwhile message.
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