Peace Education at School, at the Cinema

Give Peace a Screen at school: cinema that builds peace

From this year, the Give Peace a Screen festival is launching a programme dedicated to secondary schools, designed to discuss peace – and, above all, how it is maintained and how it is ‘achieved’. Eight morning screening sessions, starting at 10.00, will be held in the Gabriella Poli Hall at the Centro Studi Sereno Regis, 13 Via Garibaldi.

To cater for specific requirements or to explore individual themes in greater depth, screenings may also be held at individual schools, with personalised programmes developed in collaboration with the schools.

Classes can register by emailing givepeaceascreen@serenoregis.org. Each screening costs two euros per person: Give Peace a Screen is an independent festival and relies on public support to continue showcasing high-quality films on the theme of peace.

Give Peace a Screen was founded to seek out and promote films that explore peace-building – between human beings and with Nature – and that depict the quest for preventive peace and inner peace.

Peace is a culture: it is learnt by examining ourselves and others to understand which conflicts prevent its emergence, which conflicts threaten it, and which individual and collective impulses stand in its way.

The Sereno Regis Study Centre has been promoting peace education since 1982, studying conflicts and how to resolve them from a non-violent perspective. Our mission is to share and promote a culture of peace – including through cinema.

Programme of upcoming events

Tuesday 20 October Active Ecology 51’

Climate change is a reality. There is no longer time for regrets or remorse: it is time to consider how to tackle it in order to mitigate its effects. We will discuss solutions and creative actions that counteract and alleviate the damage caused

• Bad Seeds, by Nadège Herrygers, France, 12’ Selling seeds is illegal. But what sort of seeds are we talking about?

• Dear Animal, by Younes Kafashian, Iran, 2023, 9’ An old man sees something in the sea and cannot rest

• Dreamland, by Lukas Dye, USA, 7’ In Mexico, a community tries to live according to the ancient Mayan spirit

Gioja 22, by Stefano De Felici, Italy, 2021, 11’ Environmental activism and climbing: a powerful resonance is guaranteed

Just a small gesture like this, by Manuel Nolli, Italy, 12’ A small wildlife rescue centre fights to protect life. Care, attention, presence

Tuesday 3 November Wealth and Poverty 53’

It is not just physical or cultural violence: there is also structural violence – economic violence – suffered by all exploited workers, those who have lost their jobs, and those who cannot study because they have to work

Homeless, by Luca Esposito, S.A., 2021, 4’30” Under the distracted gaze of passers-by, a homeless man in Philadelphia shows the world the only thing he owns

Concrete Berlin, by Deniz Arora, Germany, 2022, 6′ A glimpse into the lives of Berlin’s homeless

Necessary, by Tapan Kumar, India, 2023, 4’56” What is superfluous to one person is essential to another

Cup of tea, by Rohan Arun Todkar, India, 17’ A wealthy Indian woman, a maid: two women and the differences in classIt Takes a Village, by Ophelia Harutyunyan, Armenia, 20’ Husbands away at work; women unite in their longing for a different worldMuhammad Yunus by Stefano Grossi and Dario Cambiano, Italy, 4’ A portrait of one of the 20th century’s most innovative bankers

Tuesday 17 November: Encountering the Other 61’

The main cause of conflict is fear of the Other, of the stranger, of those who are different: we tend to belittle them, to hate them for their different culture. None of us is immune to this, and we must uncover our unnatural mistrust

• Number numb, by Alisa Zichuk, Ukraine, 10’ A cognitive dysfunction, a fool who makes fun of others, a lesson on the way

• Recomaterna, by Giuseppe Sangiorgi, Italy, 10’ A family conflict and the grandmother who resolves it… from the afterlife

• You smell like pilaf, by Margherita Kharkovskaya, Russia, 2023, 26’ An Uzbek boy and a Russian boy share the same home. What will come of it?

• Eksi Bir, by Omer Ferhat Ozmen, Turkey, 15’ The neighbours stink. A lot. But they’re brilliant cooks…

Tuesday 1 December The violence of migration 66’

Emigrating is never a joyful choice. It is a choice forced by economic or political necessity, by poverty or by war. We must recognise the underlying tragedies to understand the frustrations of those who have left their homeland

• No Way Home, by Michael Alexander Cerveny, Ireland, 2023, 15’ How different is the treatment received by a migrant from the West compared to one from the rest of the world.

• Stateless, by Mustafa Aydın, Turkey, 2021, 13’ A documentary on the long journey of hope undertaken by Afghan migrants through Turkey.

• Jimmy sails away, by Tamara Broćić, Serbia, 2023, 8’ A young girl does everything she can to prevent her father from having to emigrate.

• La voix des autres, by Fatima Kaci, France, 2023, 30’ The delicate and challenging work of an interpreter at an asylum centre.

Tuesday 26 January Talking with the Other 80’

One of the hardest things is to empathise with others, to manage to communicate and understand one another amidst conflicts. It takes a great deal of inner strength, and trust in listening

• Dias le lluvia, by Ainara Iungman, Argentina, 15’ A man falls into a well. So what? Life goes on…

• Foa, by Margherita Ferrari, Italy, 10’ 2001, Genoa. Social Forum. Two young people seek shelter amongst the houses. Will they find it?

• Kiss, wave, kiss, by Katie Tucson, Canada, 3’ What drives us to kiss? And what defuses conflicts? A simple method

• Tirage No. 16, by Elissa Melconian and Tess Lanfranchi, France, 30’ How much courage does it take to report sexual violence?

Tuesday 9 February Under Dictatorships 62’

Our times are characterised by a steady erosion of democracy. Regimes are becoming authoritarian; freedoms are being curtailed. Dictatorships must be analysed to understand what sustains them

• Corruption on Earth, by Omid Mirnour, Germany, 2022, 12’ The award for the best dictatorship is currently led by…

• Fraria, by Alberto Diana, Italy, 18’ Fascism is spreading through the villages of Sardinia, and some are trying to rebel

• Top Secret, by Valeria Martynenko, Ukraine, 2023, 5’ An appeal from the University of Kyiv against all forms of repression

• Titanic, television-friendly version, by Farnoosh Samadi, Iran, 15’ If you want to screen a Western film in Iran, there are many obstacles. Too many

• Patrice Lumumba, by Stefano Grossi and Dario Cambiano, Italy, 4’ A portrait of one of Africa’s most important statesmen, killed by European multinationals

• Hebe de Bonafini, by Stefano Grossi and Dario Cambiano, Italy, 4’ The woman who led the resistance against the Argentine dictatorship

• Abdul Ghaffar Khan, by Stefano Grossi and Dario Cambiano, Italy, 4’, The Pashtun whom the whole of Britain feared: because he fought through non-violence

Tuesday 23 February The age-old conflict: between women and men 67’

Humanity has a problem: the eternal conflict between men and women. Or, rather, the constant oppression that men inflict upon women. Out of fear. Of what? Let’s explore this together

• Amina, by Serena Tondo, Italy, 20’ A girl has to pretend to be a boy in order to play. But for how long?

• Keep your hair on!, by Kinga Anna Garncarz, Poland, 2023, 1′ A new ending for the fairy tale of the princess and the suitor

• Barlebas, by Malu Janssen, Netherlands, 20’ Accused of witchcraft, Heylken stands her ground and inspires the young Griet with her free spirit

• Lili Alone, by Zou Jing, China, 2021, 22’ To survive, a young Chinese woman from Sichuan takes on a paid pregnancy.

• Jane Addams, by Stefano Grossi and Dario Cambiano, Italy, 4’ The first woman to oppose the war and create a network of women’s solidarity

Tuesday 9 March Gender identity 63’

Sexual orientation has become a source of conflict, because many societies reject the freedom to express oneself outside established norms and conventions. What fear is at play?

• Through My Eyes, by Silvia Nobili, Italy, 2022, 6’ Noah is a teenager; she is comfortable with who she is and, despite others’ judgements, wouldn’t change a thing about herself. However…

• Da kiss, by Carlos Lowmet, Mexico, 2022, 14’ Two homophobic actors must tackle a gay kiss scene. Will they manage it?

• Warsha, by Dania Bdeir, France, 2022, 16’ An immigrant takes on a dangerous job in order to find a moment of freedom.

• A Heart Full of Black, by Enrico Morabito, Italy, 7’ Gloria is a lesbian girl who is bullied at school. How will she react?

• The Last Party, directed by Matteo Damiani, Italy, 2022, 20’ Two sisters find the courage to open up to each other. And to understand one another.

Programmes are subject to change. To request screenings at the school, please email givepeaceascreen@serenoregis.org