A child rolls a tire through the countryside and then trips a landmine. A family is threatened by gun-wielding youngsters. People at an outdoor market in a village disperse when a grenade is thrown.
These three violent scenarios, though, are rendered harmless and yield positive results. The explosion from the landmine sprays colorful papers and picture for as far as the eye can see. The lead youngster’s gun jams when he pulls the trigger. What’s wrong with his weapon? Turns out that instead of bullets, the firearm is loaded with crayons. And the grenade releases bubbles and results in lots of smiles throughout the village.
A message appears on screen which reads, “Where childhood thrives, war does not.”
This approximately minute-long video introduces us to War Child which gives children in war-torn areas access to the education, support and resources they need to reclaim their childhood and break the cycle of poverty and violence.
“Our programs address a wide range of issues in a number of different countries,” explained War Child COO Lorna Read. “But everything we do stems from the belief that protecting childhood itself is the key to helping these communities move towards sustainable peace.”
Toronto agency john st. created the video, which was directed by Henry Lu via bicoastal Moxie Pictures and Toronto-based Soft Citizen.
Martin Scorsese On “The Saints,” Faith In Filmmaking and His Next Movie
When Martin Scorsese was a child growing up in New York's Little Italy, he would gaze up at the figures he saw around St. Patrick's Old Cathedral. "Who are these people? What is a saint?" Scorsese recalls. "The minute I walk out the door of the cathedral and I don't see any saints. I saw people trying to behave well within a world that was very primal and oppressed by organized crime. As a child, you wonder about the saints: Are they human?" For decades, Scorsese has pondered a project dedicated to the saints. Now, he's finally realized it in "Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints," an eight-part docudrama series debuting Sunday on Fox Nation, the streaming service from Fox News Media. The one-hour episodes, written by Kent Jones and directed by Elizabeth Chomko, each chronicle a saint: Joan of Arc, Francis of Assisi, John the Baptist, Thomas Becket, Mary Magdalene, Moses the Black, Sebastian and Maximillian Kolbe. Joan of Arc kicks off the series on Sunday, with three weekly installments to follow; the last four will stream closer to Easter next year. In naturalistic reenactments followed by brief Scorsese-led discussions with experts, "The Saints" emphasizes that, yes, the saints were very human. They were flawed, imperfect people, which, to Scorsese, only heightens their great sacrifices and gestures of compassion. The Polish priest Kolbe, for example, helped spread antisemitism before, during WWII, sheltering Jews and, ultimately, volunteering to die in the place of a man who had been condemned at Auschwitz. Scorsese, who turns 82 on Sunday, recently met for an interview not long after returning from a trip to his grandfather's hometown in Sicily. He was made an honorary citizen and the experience was still lingering in his mind. Remarks have... Read More