DISARM: special screening with guests

Begins
 2 Mar 2009 - 2:00pm
Ends
 2 Mar 2009 - 3:30pm
Location
66 West 12th Street. Room 404

GPIA Presents

DISARM

SPECIAL SCREENING with GUESTS

Monday, March 2nd
2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
66 West 12th St., Room 404

DISARM takes a critical look at how weapons systems, war and the way war is waged are being redefined in the 21st century with devastating consequences. May Wareham, a leader of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), and photojournalist and creative director Brian Liu spanned a dozen countries over two years in their investigation into damage inflicted by the unexploded devices, which lie hidden just below the ground’s surface and have lost none of their deadly potency over the years. Wareham and Liu’s visually stunning film includes harrowing footage smuggled out of the isolated military-ruled Myanmar (Burma), scenes from a war-ravaged Colombia and an Iraqi minefield, and deminers efforts in Bosnia and Afghanistan.

Despite a global ban, millions of antipersonnel mines inflict mass destruction and continue to claim thousands of victims each year in dozens of countries and, old but still active landmines continue to be used and stockpiled by both governments and rebel groups. The film includes government statements and public opinion on landmines in addition to comments from American Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams, as well as diplomats, landmine victims, deminers, soldier and aid workers, who together explore the issues that both hinder and further the case against antipersonnel mines.

For more information please visit http://www.disarmfilm.org/

The screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmakers and special guests.

Brian Liu has over a decade of experience as a creative director, designer, and photojournalist with published work in publications ranging from The New York Times to Rolling Stone and photography assignments for clients including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Peace Corps, and Icelandair. More recently Brian has engaged in DV documentary filmmaking for various independent productions (including Frontrunner, Burn To Shine, and Pancake Mountain) and major music artists (including Manu Chao, Thievery Corporation, Bright Eyes, The Faint, and Brazilian Girls.

Mary Wareham, a New Zealander, has worked for Human Rights Watch (HRW) since 1998 (with a two-year break from 2006 to 2008 in which she served as Oxfam NZ’s advocacy director). From 1998 to 2004 Wareham was Global Research Coordinator of the 1997 Nobel Peace Laureate International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). She is co-editor of the 2008 publication Banning Landmines: Disarmament, Citizen Diplomacy, and Human Security. Wareham made Disarm in her personal capacity, establishing a separate non-profit, Next Step Productions, to produce the film. Since completing Disarm in 2005, Wareham has played a central role in helping bring about the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans cluster bombs.


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