ABSTRACT
Two historical events, one in which I participated and one that I merely witnessed, supplied the initiating impetus for this book. First, during the third week of January 2005, while President George W. Bush was using his second inaugural address to rally support for his “war on terror,” deployed at home and abroad, I was with over five thousand people attending the Tromsø International Film Festival (the TIFF). Up in the Arctic Circle in Norway, in a nation that has often played a mediating role in a world of intra-and inter-state violence, I was performing as a necessarily judgmental viewer. I served on a five-person jury charged to select one among ten films for Den Norske Fredsfilmprisen (The Norwegian Peace Film Award). Along with four other jurors, I watched the films and engaged in deliberations about both their artistic merits and their relevance to the contested concept of a “peace film.” In addition, I participated in a panel discussion on the concept of a “peace film” and interacted with our audience, containing both festival attendees and students from the University of Tromsø.
