''The Peace Tree'' is a 2005

family film A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that generally relates to children in the context of home and family. Children's films are made specifically for children and not necessarily for a general audience, while family films are made ...

written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Mitra Sen.

Plot

''The Peace Tree'' tells the story of two little girls, one

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and one

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, who dream of celebrating each other's festivals, Eid and

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

. But when they share their dreams, they are met with resistance from their parents who express their concerns. Through their struggles, they create a unique

symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...

—''The Peace Tree'', a tree that highlights the symbols from all our

cultures Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and

faiths Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, includ ...

to reflect the beauty of "diversity in unity". The Peace Tree shares the voices of the children who try to enlighten their parents to the importance of sharing and celebrating

diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

together.

Production

The film was written and directed by Mitra Sen, and produced by Sandalwood Productions in association with Harmony Movement and

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

Release

''The Peace Tree'' was screened at over 50 film festivals, including

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

, and received twelve international awards.

Impact

The film triggered the creation of Peace Trees internationally, and the proclamation of Peace Tree Day on June 1, 2006, by Mayor David Miller in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. In 2007,

York Region The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional ...

York Regional Police The York Regional Police (YRP; ) is the police service of the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada. YRP was formed in 1971 from the police forces maintained by the nine municipalities which amalgamated into York Region at the time. The ...

York Region District School Board The York Region District School Board (YRDSB), until 1999, English-language Public District School Board No. 16 is the English-language public school board for the Regional Municipality of York in Ontario, Canada. The York Region District School ...

and the

City of Windsor Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County ...

proclaimed Peace Tree Day.

Awards and recognition

*Liv Ullmann Peace Prize, 22nd

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

*Children's Film Festival for promoting peace and harmony *Audience Award, Taiwan International Children's Film and Television Film Festival 2006 *Nominated Best Feature, Taiwan International Children's Film and Television Festival 2006 *Silver Cairo for Short Film, Cairo International Film Festival for Children 2006 *Children's International Jury Prize, Cairo *International Film Festival for Children 2006 *Best Short Fiction, Lamatatena Cine por Ninos et Ninas, Mexico, 2006 *Best Short Family Film,

Sarasota Film Festival The Sarasota Film Festival is a film festival located in Sarasota, Florida and held in April. Its mission is "to celebrate the art of filmmaking and the contribution of filmmakers by hosting an international film festival and developing year-long ...

2006 *Best Children's Film, Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival 2006 *Gold Statue, Best Direction,

Roshd International Film Festival Roshd International Film Festival is eldest film festival in Iran. It is centered on the films with educational and pedagogical themes and is staged every year by the Supplying Educational Media Center, a sub-branch of the Ministry of Education o ...

, Iran, 2006 *Gold Statue, Best Script,

, Iran, 2006 *Gold Statue, Best Acting,

, Iran, 2006 *S-VOX (Vision TV)/ReelWorld Film Festival, Spiritual Film Award, 2007 *

Golden Minbar International Film Festival The Kazan International Festival of Muslim Cinema (KIFMC) was created in 2005 as the Golden Minbar International Festival of Muslim Cinema. It takes place at the beginning of September in the town of Kazan, the capital of the Russian republic of Tat ...

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

, Russia, President of the Republic of Tartasan, Award for Humanity in Film Art, 2007

References

External links

* * (archived) American children's drama films Canadian children's drama films 2005 films 2005 drama films English-language Canadian films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s Canadian films {{short-drama-film-stub