Moondance on Non-violence

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SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

A WEEK FROM HELL

By Charles M. Blow, Op-Ed Columnist

CHARLES BLOW

Opinion Pages, The New York Times, July 8, 2016

This was yet another week that tore at the very fiber of our nation. After two videos emerged showing the gruesome killings of two black men by police officers, one in Baton Rouge, La., and the other in Falcon Heights, Minn., a black man shot and killed five officers in a cowardly ambush at an otherwise peaceful protest and wounded nine more people.

We seem caught in a cycle of escalating atrocities without an easy way out, without enough clear voices of calm, without tools for reduction, without resolutions that will satisfy. This is not a level of stress and strain that a civil society can long endure. Centuries of American policy, culture and tribalism are simply being revealed… Since people have camera phones, we are actually seeing these deaths, live and in living color. We must see all unwarranted violence for what it is: A corrosion of culture.

Anger and vengeance and violence are exceedingly easy to access and almost effortlessly unleashed. The higher calling — the harder trial — is the belief in the ultimate moral justice and the inevitable victory of righteousness over wrong. When we all can see clearly that the ultimate goal is harmony and not hate, rectification and not retribution, we have a chance to see our way forward. But we all need to start here and now… READ MORE: (article excerpts by EE)

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STATEMENT ON NON-VIOLENCE

A Process of Profound Change

By Elizabeth English

ElizabethEnglish

Founder & Executive Director

Moondance International Film Festival

I’d like to take this opportunity to have a cinematic dialog about world peace through non-violent conflict resolution. We must acknowledge, inspire, motivate, and encourage the potentially powerful roles filmmakers, writers and music composers can play in securing peace, and gain a commitment by the international film community toward depictions of viable non-violent conflict resolutions.

We all need to identify and address the root causes of violence and contribute to the just and peaceful transformation of violent conflict resolution. The core of conflict transformation work is the building of a sustainable peace between all people. This involves a process of profound change in attitude, transforming situations characterized by fear and killing into environments in which reconciliation, respect for other people, where social justice and participatory democracy can take root.

We need a viable response to the rise in violent conflict between individuals, neighborhoods, in schools, different cultures, religions, and genders, within countries and the subsequent abuse of individual and collective human rights in minor and major conflict situations. Today there is an evermore pressing need for conflict resolution and peace-building 
efforts.

squiglylineMOONDANCE MISSION STATEMENT ON NON-VIOLENCE:

dove29debbd5-a817-4840-ac61-18541de1b236Moondance promotes, encourages, educates and rewards non-violent conflict resolution in the arts & film. Our much-coveted Columbine Awards are given to the filmmakers, writers & composers who best depict alternatives to violence as a method of dealing with conflicts, whether personal, local, national or international, and/or show why violence as a solution to conflict is ultimately counter-productive and inhumane. Our mission is to present a vibrant and growing collection of films and writings, which is an ideal means for communication across perceived boundaries of race, culture, age and gender.

Our objective is to identify and address the root causes of violence and contribute to the just and peaceful transformation of violent conflict resolution. The core of conflict transformation work is the building of a sustainable peace between all people. This involves a process of profound change in attitude, transforming situations characterized by fear and killing into environments in which reconciliation, respect for other people, social justice and participatory democracy can take root.

The creation of the coveted Moondance Columbine Award is a direct response to the rise in violent conflict between individuals, neighborhoods, in schools, different cultures and genders, within countries and the subsequent abuse of individual and collective human rights in minor and major conflict situations. Today there is an evermore-pressing need for peaceful conflict resolution and global peace-building efforts. READ MORE:

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Please join us in this vital endeavor!

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“You will only be remembered for two things:

the problems you solve or the problems you create.”

~ M. Murdoch