Film Description

Finding Our Voices

¨       Family and friends outside Dover Air Force base… denied entry to meet the returning coffins of their sons and daughters, brothers or wives

¨       Grandmothers, the parents of victims of September 11^th 2001… peacefully enduring arrest to stop a war they feel their lost children would never condone

¨       American diplomats… resigning their commissions in defense of an internationalist diplomacy no longer practiced by a country rapidly moving towards a new form of Imperialism

¨       A decorated soldier led away by military police to serve a year in prison… because he could no longer in conscience serve in a war he views as unjust

These are images of dissent in the first years of the new century.  But who are these people?  What motivates them, how do their public actions reflect their vision for their country and their world?  While there are many issues at stake in an emerging progressive movement, none is more immediate or fraught with conflict than the U.S. at war.  It divides the country, and many label those opposed to both the war in Iraq and some of the methods in the war on terror, as ‘unpatriotic.’ To challenge the dominant national view takes deep conviction and deeper courage.  In Finding Our Voices we celebrate the unsung heroes who dare to wage peace, people like:

Adele Welty, the mother of firefighter Timmy Welty who perished at the World Trade Center on September 11^th 2001, is a member of Families of 9/11 For Peaceful Tomorrows. She has protested against the war in Iraq to prevent Timmy's legacy being used to justify the killing of innocent civilians. Someone who was not an activist during Timmy's life, Adele now works for immigrant rights and currently is lobbying Congress for passage of the Dream Act.

John Brady Kiesling is a U.S. diplomat who at the height of his successful 20-year career in the State Department publicly protested the invasion of Iraq and resigned in early 2003.  He recently published a book titled Diplomacy Lessons, about diplomatic solutions to international conflicts.

Camilo Mejia, an immigrant from Nicaragua and Costa Rica joined the Army for educational benefits and served 4 years active duty and 4 years as an Army Reservist. Decorated and promoted for previous earlier service, during his duty in Iraq, he was asked to abuse Iraqi prisoners, and refused. On leave he went AWOL rather than return to Iraq. Five months later he turned himself over to authorities to call attention to U.S. policies. At his court martial, he was not allowed to present the motivations for his actions in his defense. Camilo served 9 months in a military prison in Oklahoma for desertion.

Finding Our Voices is a documentary that introduces the audience to these and other peaceful patriots who march, sacrifice their jobs, risk imprisonment and face ridicule to act for a peaceful America.  The film explores their causes and their lives, presenting their common convictions and their myriad diversity. We look at their dissent since the world shattering events of September 11^th 2001 and the U.S. invasion of Iraq, in the context of history, constitutional rights, and the changing face of law and policy, and most importantly we document their desire to create a better future for their children and grandchildren.

The film weaves together dramatic hand held amateur street footage and personal stories and interviews, with news footage of contemporary events.  Our cameras capture intimate moments with a mother who lost her son in what she terms, “a worthless, senseless war that we are never going to win.”  We see activists demanding that members of congress present truthful accounts of the situation in Iraq, and hear a passionate preacher reminding his congregation that the power of democracy lies in their hands. 

In a nation where almost half of the population questioned from the outset the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and wherein now more than half see it as wrong, it seems obvious that we should see and hear the voices of those who have publicly spoken and acted against that war.  Finding Our Voices presents their story. From grandmothers to legislators, from soldiers to musicians these activists for non-violence share a different way of being American. In a society that at best marginalizes their dissent and at worst condemns it to ridicule and even active suppression… they pick up the banner of idealism.  In Finding Our Voices we raise their voices, to be heard by all of us living in times of conflict, and for the generations to come… reminding us that passion for justice and commitment to a cooperative and peaceful world is possible… that any and all of us can wage peace.