Make movies, not war
Spielberg's peace plan: Joint Israeli-Palestinian movie aimed at promoting co-existence
After introducing us to extraterrestrial creatures and presenting the world with unknown stories about the Holocaust and WWII, Steven Spielberg has a new cinematic project up his sleeve: A joint Israeli-Palestinian film aimed at promoting coexistence. Spielberg is due to arrive in Israel shortly to launch the project.
According to his plan, 200 small video cameras will be distributed among 100 Israelis and 100 Palestinians. Each of them will be asked to document their daily lives, after which a joint film will be produced from the footage.
Spielberg added that he had planned to launch the project during a visit to Israel when he was set to be granted an honorary doctorate degree by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem; however the visit was cancelled due to the outbreak of the war in Lebanon.
Filming instead of fighting
"The youngsters will be busy filming instead of throwing Molotov bottles and they will get a chance to see how the other half lives. By so doing, they will come to realize that we are all human beings who wish to live in peace. I want you to make movies not war," Spielberg told the ambassador.
After a while the youngsters will exchange the movies between them and they will edit the footage shot by the other side of the political tracks. The raw material will be used to produce a joint movie.
"I believe the project is a way for creating co-productions and interpersonal ties between Israelis and the Palestinians, I want the 200 young cameramen to form the nucleus of something much bigger," Spielberg told Gillerman.
He also added that he is also examining additional ideas such as establishing an Israel-Palestinian film academy that would operate simultaneously in Tel Aviv and Ramallah with the aim of promoting joint film productions on both sides.
