We recently saw the powerful documentary “Pray the Devil Back to Hell, and were incredibly moved by the story of ordinary women who had done something so extraordinary. We recently had the opportunity to interview the film’s producer, Abigail Disney, an amazing woman in her own right, on how the film came about, why she felt compelled to bring the story to the world, and how it’s changed her life.
“At first I was outraged and then I became obsessed with telling the story of the courageous Liberian women who came together to end a bloody 14 year-old civil war and bring peace to their shattered country”, says Abigail Disney about why she felt compelled to produce her first film, the powerful documentary, Pray the Devil Back to Hell. It all started on a trip to Liberia in 2003 to support the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first woman president of an African Nation. While there, she started hearing stories for the first time, of how thousands of women - ordinary mothers, grandmothers, aunts and daughters, both Christian and Muslim - came together to pray for peace and then staged a silent protest outside of the Presidential Palace. Armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions, they demanded a resolution to the country's civil war. Abigail’s first thought was how could this be possible? Why wouldn’t I have heard about this in the main stream news media like BBC, CNN, or Sky News? But after verifying that the stories were indeed true, she became outraged that the media chose not to cover these events, or as Abigail puts it, their attempts at “historical eradication”. And that is when she became determined to tell the story of these women, which is how Abigail Disney came to produce her first film, along with Emmy-winning director Gini Reticker.
No princess here
Abigail Disney’s accomplishments prior to Pray the Devil, could fill reams of paper. She holds degrees from Yale, Stanford, and a PhD from Columbia. Over the years Abigail has been actively involved in social and political issues, domestically and globally. She created The Daphne Foundation that has provided millions of dollars in grants to grassroots, community-based organizations working with low-income communities in NYC. She is a past Chair of The New York Women's Foundation, helped save Ms. Magazine for future generations, serves on the boards of the Roy Disney Family Foundation, the White House Project, the Global Fund for Women, and the Fund for the City of New York, as well as the advisory boards of a broad range of organizations working in the areas of poverty, women's issues, education and environment. Abigail also acts as Vice Chair of the board of Shamrock Holdings , an investment company running five different funds that manage more than 1.5 billion dollars in assets for a diverse group of investors, as well as for the Roy Disney Family. And on the personal side, she is a wife and mother to four children. But she never planned to become a filmmaker, saying “there were other people in the family who were doing that very well”. But she really felt that film would be the most powerful way to tell the story of the Liberian women.
“I Found My Life “
So when we asked this “tomato of substance” what has been the most rewarding outcome of Pray the Devil Back to Hell, we were surprised when she said, “I found my life. I know what I want to be and what I want to do with my life.” Inspired by the women of Liberia, one of whom made the comment, that peace is a process, not an event, and peace is not quiet, she has formed another organization called “Peace is Loud.”
Peace is Loud
http://www.peaceisloud.org/Conflicts.htm
Peace is Loud is a non-profit organization whose mission is to raise funds to support organizations and individuals who are focused on peace-building, and helping them to end conflicts in their country through peaceful, non-violent methods.
And equally important they will document and share the stories of successful peace activists to others living in conflict areas who need help in their peace building efforts.
Women as change agents, not victims
We were excited to learn from Abigail that she and her film partner Gini Reticker are developing a four-part series with PBS on women and war. They will focus on women not as victims, but as change agents, like the women in Pray the Devil. When we asked Abigail how we can make people care about what is happening outside our country, she said the key is in connecting us to each other. Which is precisely what we found so powerful in Pray the Devil. It’s the recognition that these women are just like us. They are mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives who want their families to be safe, secure, and living in peace. No longer willing to be victims, they had the courage to stand together and bring about change. We were cheering them on.
Abigail’s favorite Disney Movie?
Pinocchio. “It’s a perfect film about the struggle to learn the truth and learn what is important.”
Three tomato cheers to Abigail Disney, a woman of substance who’s making her very own Disney magic.
Pray the Devil Back from Hell is now available on DVD . $5 out of every DVD sold will be donated to Peace is Loud.
http://www.praythedevilbacktohell.com/nonflash/buydvd.htm
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Tomatoes of Substance
Recognizing women who inspire us and are helping to make our world a better place, one tomato at a time.
Abigail Disney
Philanthropist, social activist, award-winning filmmaker, founder Peace is Loud
