The
Imam and the Pastor shown at Cinéma Verité Film Festival
in Geneva and Paris
From
left to right – Pastor James Wuye, Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai, Her
Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, French Minister of State for Foreign
Affairs and Human Rights Rama Yade and Imam Muhammad Ashafa. (Photo:
Alan Channer)
Alan
Channer reports
on the French version of the award-winning documentary film The Imam
and the
Pastor,
screened at CINÉMA VERITÉ, the world’s most prestigious
celebration of
films that highlight humanitarian and social causes, in Geneva on
October 10th and Paris on October 12th.
The theme of
Cinéma Verité 2008 – ‘inter-cultural understanding and
dialogue between peoples’ - was the inspiration of Her Majesty Queen
Noor of Jordan.
In her key-note
address, Queen Noor cited Gandhi’s exhortation ‘to
be the change you wish to see in the world’, and saluted film-makers
‘whose vision, courage and compassion… help us better understand our
world and our responsibilities to it’.
Imam
Muhammad Ashafa addresses guests at the gala dinner in Geneva.
From
left to right: Mistress of Ceremonies Gabriella Wright, Imad Karam,
Alan Channer, Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye
The Imam and the
Pastor,
made by For the
Love of Tomorrow Films (FLTfilms), London, depicts
the
unlikely journey taken by two former enemies on opposite sides of the
Christian-Muslim divide in Nigeria.
The film’s
protagonists Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye,
along with film-makers Alan and Mary Channer, from Britain, and Imad
Karam, from Palestine, were among Cinéma Verité’s
official guests – who
included Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai, international mediator Mohamed
Sahnoun, musician/campaigner Bob Geldof and actress Meg Ryan.
