Dear Mr. President DVD
In the conflict between Palestine and Israel, both sides share one truth: there are no easy answers. However, there are five teenage girls from both sides of the conflict and an American filmmaker who feel they can do something to help...and they are going half way around the world to try.
Dear Mr. President is a feature length documentary that charts the travels of five teenage girls from the Mideast. Their goals: to break down barriers between enemy cultures and to meet with George W. Bush. The girls travel in an RV that takes them across the USA. Their journey is filled with epiphanies, forgiveness, friendship, sorrow and hope.
60 minutes.
An epilogue & re-cut is currently in production.
::January 2009:: From Director Debra Sugarman
All:
Two days ago I was lucky enough to speak again with one of the girls who attended the peace camp I created and who co-created the documentary with all of us. If you saw the film you will know her as Bessan (far left, on sleeve image), she lived in Gaza.
Saturday, the house she and her family lived in was hit and she was killed.
Bessan and 2 of her sisters, her cousin was killed as well.
Her sister, Shatah is fighting for her life in a hospital as I write. It is hard to wrap my mind around this whole event.
Some of you had the amazing luck to meet Bessan. She was bright, beautiful, spoke honestly, said unpopular things to speak her truths and, she was a peace maker.
I am telling you all this because I am so sad, but also because it illustrates what I wholly believe; violence does not work. It just kills hope and it kills people.
Bessan and her family, like far too many, died literally in the the midst of people hating and fearing one another. And for what?
I will never understand how we "win" wars and how violence leads to peace.
Somehow I still believe that if we find another way, without guns and bombs and tanks and missiles, maybe one day we will ALL see that this conflict is really about not truly knowing, wanting to know or listening to each other, not seeing the commonality and the humanity.
Speak of peace , even when people are pissing you off. Use words not guns.
Debra