Audience members enjoy the post-screening discussion.

At the Los Angeles Premiere

by Brian Powell-Clendenning

In late August 2005, I was asked by Mark Solomon, a fellow CPC member living in Los Angeles, to photograph the premiere of the documentary film, Peace One Day. I happily agreed.

As a Canadian, I was keenly interested to travel to post 9/11 Los Angeles. It was an opportunity to confront the stereotypes I hold: Americans being brash, extroverted, and a little paranoid; LA being a place of crass materialism and egotism; and my nagging cynicism that the efforts of an idealistic few tend to have little effect in the world.

Having said that, I came away from the experience startled and pleasantly surprised by virtually everyone I met.

On the day of the screening, the film's director, Jeremy Gilley, who flew in from London for the premiere, was affable, extremely energetic, and a model of enthusiasm and efficiency - there was little time that he was not text-messaging or talking on his cell to organize several other events in New York and Europe.

I was particularly touched by Jeremy's awareness and sensitivity towards all those around him. Throughout the whirlwind of details of the day, he regularly asked how I was doing, held doors, and was keenly interested in everyone around him.

The event itself was particularly moving, quite beyond the scope of the gripping film itself. While the documentary stands as a testament of how one man's unrelenting focus and positive energy can overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, it was the quality of the dialogues I had with several attendees at the reception that really affected my perspective.

One woman, a writer, had heard Mark Solomon interviewed on the radio promoting the film. She felt compelled to attend the screening, and after speaking with Jeremy, was inspired to complete a screenplay of how an anonymous German-born US congressman had sponsored her Jewish father into America after World War II.

Another woman, a camera operator, was struggling with how to express her need to create positive film messages while functioning within a system driven by more materialistic objectives.

I spoke with a survivor of the rebel conflicts on the Ivory Coast who is reconciling his need for the safety of his family versus the greater need of his countrymen for resources and peace in the face of war and poverty.

I remain struck by the images of Jeremy, a self described "simple filmmaker," interacting and dialoguing with world and state leaders in his film, and with the local spiritual and lay people of Los Angeles.

Regardless of the audience, his simple message remains consistent: we can do it, all it takes is the willingness to see even briefly past the immediate struggle - and create peace one day.