So Wednesday we had Jen Marlowe speak on her both her works in Sudan and Darfur and her new film, Rebuilding Hope, a documentary film about South Sudan She is the co-author of The Darfur Diaries which was actually a film first then worked into a print format.
Ms. Marlowe is a wonderful woman who speaks with such depth and conviction about her works. But most importantly she gets “it”. She understands the interconnectivity of not just the situation in Sudan, Darfur, Iraq, etc but that these are not compartmentalized pockets of unrest that don’t exist in their own little silos and once one problem is “fixed” you just move on to the next and eventually things are good once again.
We were shown a clip from her upcoming film and then I was invited along to dinner with Jen, my boss Joe K, one of our AVP’s Carol M and my International Admission Colleague Toni C. It was a great night, because there was no pretense, but great conversation on topics from Jen’s ongoing work, how she got into the countries she’s been to film etc. On Joe’s work in Zimbabwe and experiences he’s had along the way.
All in all it was a wonderful evening, with great people. I’m glad I’ve met Jen Marlowe and even more glad that we were able to give her an evening with our students, staff and faculty to talk about the important issues she’s documenting, and helping to show people. I’m glad we had a good turn out and that people asked such good questions.
The first and most important question was “What can I/we do to get involved, to help?” and I loved Jen’s answer on this. I just wish I could remember it verbatim. But I do leave you with a link to the Blog that she and David kept while in South Sudan, filming “Rebuilding Hope”
More about Jen from the Darfur Diaries site:
Jen Marlowe is currently directing “Rebuilding Hope”, a documentary film about South Sudan and is writing a book and a play about Palestine and Israel. She is on the board of directors for Friends of the Jenin Freedom Theatre, and is a founding member of the “Rachel’s Words” initiative. From 2000-2004, she coordinated and directed a conflict transformation program in Jerusalem, creating and implementing co-existence programs for hundreds of Palestinian and Israeli youth. In addition, she worked in conflict resolution with youth in Afghanistan, and facilitated dialogue groups between youth from Bosnia-Herzegovina, India and Pakistan, and Turkish and Greek Cypriot youth. Her writing can be found online in The Nation, Alternet and Counterpunch
A follow up post just on the Rebuilding Hope project in a bit…