Chiang Mai, October 18, 2009 (SIGNIS/Bill Falekaono) - The TV Producers’ session turned out to be a full house. Many TV, Film and Video producers turned up and some brought their own productions with them.

This session was facilitated by the former General Secretary of SIGNIS, Robert Molhant and one of the current Vice President, Peter Thomas. They begun with asking producers to voluntarily come to the front and share with the group the ideas behind their production and only two minutes of the production was viewed for there were a number of producers who wanted to participate.

One of the productions was from the Middle East, from Lebanon. The production showed how young Muslims and Christian children mixed together and did not allow their religion to be a barrier. As the story unfolded, there was an incident when the Israelite military targeted and heavily bombed a house, killing and injuring many Muslim children. It was the Christian children’s families who came running for first aid and took these Muslim families to their own home and set up a safe place for them.

There are some risks involved in producing such a film, with concrete images that are so sensitive to different religions in the region. Even before it was ready to be shown in public, certain authorities were approached to get approval and to avoid misunderstanding.

This documentary was shown in Muslim theatres and even in Iran.

When stories are told in a production like this one, children are the heroes, and children are the ones who took the risk to break down the walls of man made segregations and division. It is the children who forgive, and make peace even in times of conflicts.