Jenny Chapman won the Moondance International Film Festival Columbine Award
for short film two years running – for MESSAGE
in 2003 and for 3
Minutes Silence in 2002. The Columbine Award is for work which promotes
the non-violent resolution of conflict. This page provides links and further
information about the Columbine Awards, Moondance's mission of non-violence,
and the making of the film 3 Minutes Silence.
Some of the following material is reproduced from the Moondance International Film Festival's Web site.
Moondance promotes, encourages, educates and rewards non-violent conflict resolution in the arts & film. Our much-coveted Columbine Awards are given to the film-makers &/or writers who best depict alternatives to violence as a method of dealing with conflicts, whether personal, local, national or international, and/or show why violence as a solution to conflict is ultimately counter-productive and inhumane. Our mission is to present a vibrant and growing collection of films and writings, which is an ideal means for communication across perceived boundaries of race, culture, age and gender.
Read the rest of the Moondance statement on non-violence.
The Columbine Award Competition is open to men and women. All films & screenplays, stageplays, radio scripts & tapes, TV scripts, puppetry theatre, music videos, lyrics & librettos & short stories for this contest category should promote & reflect non-violent conflict resolution, or alternatives to violence, or show why a violent resolution to conflict is counter-productive & inhumane. Submitted material should not contain gratuitous violence. We are not seeking non-violent entries, but we do wish to see submissions in this category which show the viewer or reader either alternatives to resolving a conflict violently, or show us how violent conflict resolution (such as in Northern Ireland, Gulf war, Viet Nam, WWI & II, Israel/Palestine, Columbine high school, apartheid, murder, rape, gang wars, drug wars, race relations, abuse in families, etc.) usually doesn't solve the perceived conflict. Moondance does not try to censure violent films & written works, but we do wish to present & encourage alternatives to violence.
Read more about the Columbine Awards and the Columbine Film Fund.
I was deeply sorry and sad that I was not able to be at the Moondance Festival in person, as I missed the opportunity to meet so many creative people, and to see work which must surely be inspiring. However, as family reasons prevented me from leaving Britain at this time, I asked Elizabeth English to kindly read these few words on my behalf:
3 Minutes Silence is a special film for one vital reason – it came about solely as a result of the Moondance newsletter which Elizabeth bravely circulated immediately after the attacks of September 11th. In other words, it was Moondance's mission, and the Columbine Award project in particular, which were the direct cause of this film being made.
When I received the 11th September newsletter I was involved in other work, and couldn't see how it was possible to make anything in time for the Moondance deadline a few weeks later. But after a short exchange of messages with Elizabeth I became determined to try. I wrote to her that I would drop everything else and make a short film especially as a contribution to the Columbine project. Knowing how little time I had, I viewed this simply as a positive gesture. I was starting from nothing – no ideas and no material – and didn't imagine that I would be able to produce very much. But I felt that the most important thing at this horrifically violent time was to make the effort to be a part of the Columbine mission, and to do what I could to make one more small voice heard in opposition to those who seek to counter violence with yet more violence. I am absolutely delighted that, as a result of this decision, a short film came into being which otherwise would never have existed, and my small voice is able to join in the greater chorus for peace which forms the Moondance Columbine project.
Most people feel a sense of powerlessness in the face of great odds, but it is not necessary to try to act alone. The Columbine project offers us all an opportunity to be a part of something bigger and better than any one individual's work. It is no doubt always gratifying to win an award, but in the case of the Columbine Award it is more true than ever that what really counts is running the race – or, in this case, being a part of a truly worthwhile mission. To contribute to this project amounts to putting up your hand and saying "count me in". On 11th September I had no idea that I was going to do this, but as a result of Elizabeth's newsletter I did, and I am profoundly glad of it. I hope that this may help more of you realise that the boundary between doing and not doing is not the huge psychological barrier that it can sometimes seem, but just a flimsy structure that can easily be pushed over.
In a world in which strident, violent voices promote continued conflict to billions of people every day, we desperately need to find ways in which those many, many people who reject violence and seek compassion, understanding and peace can also be heard and supported. Moondance has provided us with just such a forum. As creative people we are especially fortunate in having ways of making ourselves heard which people in other walks of life must lack. Films, theatre and stories of all kinds can be enormously powerful and influential, reaching out to audiences all over the world, and we have the means of making them. I would therefore urge you all to make the best possible use of your particular abilities, and to help take this Columbine project from strength to strength. Peace is every step ...
View stills and find out more about 3 Minutes Silence.
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