Peace Building

Developing a film around peace-building issues presented new challenges. Unlike the natural disaster films which the Two Gardens accompanies, it wasn’t a simple matter of what to do and what not to do.

Working alongside the Jesuit Refugee Service in Indonesia and East Timor, No Strings developed a script that whose function is to demonstrate the speed at which bad feeling can escalate in a community, and to provoke discussion among people for whom community tension and violence is an ongoing threat or reality.

The Two Gardens film has been viewed by our partners as extremely useful, and there are now plans in place to step up its dissemination on the Filipino island of Mindanao very significantly, with interfaith group facilitators trained by No Strings to pass on their experience to a large number of other local partner staff.

The concept marries well with the natural disasters series, as tensions will often develop in the aftermath of a large disaster when people are forced away from their home regions.

Two Gardens - The Story

Tikoy is instinctively hostile when a stranger is employed to cultivate one half of the garden he works on. The stranger, a newcomer to the village, works hard; harder than Tikoy. In no time, his half of the garden is growing ten times as well. Tikoy feels threatened. ”He must have stolen my seedlings,” Tikoy mutters. “He’s from across the bay. They’re all strange over there.” “All thieves,” his friend adds. Rumours spread. Soon, the villagers decide he must be stopped. That night, they set fire to his garden. But when the wind blows the flames towards the village, it’s the stranger who saves the day. He has fixed the well, and the fire can be put out. Tikoy, deeply ashamed, apologises.