WGBH celebrates Women’s History Month with Women, War & Peace II, the continuation of an award-winning documentary series that shows the powerful stories of women and their impact on dramatic conflicts and peace settlements across the globe.
The idea for the original Women, War & Peace series began seven years ago, when Executive Producers Abigail Disney and Gini Reticker went to Liberia and stood face to face with the women who participated in the Mass Action for Peace led by Leymah Gbowee.
“These women crusaded for the interests of traumatized civilians caught between corrupt factions warring for power as a means to personal enrichment,” Reticker said. That story became the basis for their documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell – which eventually became the cornerstone of the Women, War & Peace series. By the time the series aired, Gbowee had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and the world’s understanding about women’s role in war had begun to shift, she said. “Our lives had changed profoundly,” Reticker said. “We realized there were so many similar stories, both past and present, which were untold.”
Women, War & Peace II premieres at a critical political moment when American women were elected to Congress in record numbers and women around the world are calling for a seat at the table. It explores the narratives of women who have made sacrifices in Northern Ireland, Egypt, Palestine and Haiti so that their voices could be heard, revealing their transformative power and the long road ahead for peacebuilders around the world. An all-female cast of directors present four new stories about the women who risked their lives for peace, changing history in the process:
Wave Goodbye to Dinosaurs – Monday, March 25 at 9pm (Directed by Eimhear O’Neill) – Witness the story of the Catholic and Protestant women who come together during Northern Ireland’s bloody conflict to form an all-female political party and fight to ensure that human rights, equality and inclusion shape the historic Good Friday Agreement peace deal.
The Trials of Spring – Monday, March 25 at 10pm (Directed by Gini Reticker) – Three Egyptian women put their lives and bodies on the line fighting for justice and freedom. This documentary tells the story of Egypt’s Arab Spring, the human rights abuses that came to define it and the women willing to risk everything.
Naila and the Uprising – Tuesday, March 26 at 9pm (Directed by Julia Bacha) – Featured in last year’s Boston Palestine Film Festival, this film follows a nonviolent women’s movement that courageously takes shape to form the heart of the Palestinian struggle for freedom during the 1987 uprising, known as the first Intifada. One woman must make a choice between love, family and freedom. Undaunted, she embraces all three.
A Journey of a Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers – Tuesday, March 26 at 10pm (Directed by Geeta Gandbhir and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy) – Embark on a risky year-long UN peacekeeping mission into earthquake-ravaged Haiti with an all-female Bangladeshi police unit. Leaving their families behind, these women shatter stereotypes as they rise in the name of building peace.
At a time when women around the world are declaring that the future is female, Women, War & Peace II makes the case that women have already played a critical role in making the peace.
Watch a preview below:
