The
Friendship Village is an award-winning
50-minute documentary by Canadian filmmaker
Michelle Mason about an international group
of veterans who are building a village
in Viet
Nam for
children with Agent Orange-related disabilities.
Built on a former rice paddy near Hanoi,
the Friendship Village stands
not only as a symbol of peace and reconciliation,
but as a testament to the potential for
all people to come to terms with the past,
heal the wounds of war, and create a better
world.
Following the story of the
village's founder, American veteran George Mizo, The Friendship Village takes us through his experiences of war's
horror to the personal transformation that
led to the birth of his remarkable village.
Working alongside the Vietnamese general
responsible for killing his entire platoon
in 1968, George and other veterans from the USA, Vietnam, France, Germany, Japan, Great
Britain and Australia are
attempting to mitigate the ongoing effects
of the toxic herbicide sprayed during the
war. Their efforts are a powerful example
of how average people can still make a profound
difference in our increasingly globalized world.
As such, the Vietnam Friendship Village has
the potential to change not only the lives
of the children who live in it and the men
who build it, but all who come to understand
its mission.
Howard Zinn,
writes, “I've just seen The Friendship Village. It is an extraordinaily moving and powerful film. It is by turns heartrending
and inspiring. Centering it on the experiences
and thought of Vietnam veteran
George Mizo was
a brilliant idea. I believe the film is a
proper tribute to the life of this remarkable
human being. I hope this film will be seen
by large numbers of young people, to remind
them of what the U.N. charter calls"the scourge
of war."
The
Friendship Village is the winner of
the Grand
Jury Prize, Best Documentary, Best
Director of a Documentary at the 2003 New
York International Independent Film & Video
Festival; Silver Hugo for Best Social/Political Documentary at the 2003 Chicago
International Television Awards; and Columbine
Award for Best Documentary at the 2003 Moondance International
Film Festival, Boulder, Colorado
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