Tribeca Dispatch: Saturday, May 3 (Pray)

Now for my ninth documentary ...

Second movie seen: Pray the Devil Back to Hell
What it is (description from TFF Web site): After more than a decade of civil wars leading to more than 250,000 deaths and one million refugees, a group of courageous women rose up to force peace on their shattered Liberia and propel to victory the first female head of state on the African continent.
Viewing partners: Michelle and Liz

Pray Review: The vibrant Pray the Devil Back to Hell deservedly earned Best Documentary honors at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, showcasing a riveting storyline and compelling women telling their own story, with no narrator. It also successfully balances text and narrative, using factoids that act as transitions.

In 2002, as civil war raged in Liberia, social worker Leymah formed the Christian Women’s Peace Initiative, which even Muslim women joined – the first time the two faiths came together. Journalists, police officers, secretaries and market workers engaged in seemingly simple tactics in pressing their agenda: prayer, fish market sit-ins, even initiating a sex strike. After more than a year, they made it to the peace talks in Ghana and, when all hope seemed lost, pushed the movement forward with dramatic action.

“Inspiring” and “hero” are such overused words in the English language, but they really apply when discussing the ladies of Liberia. The model of mission statements and peaceful protests legitimately could inspire women everywhere, be they in Iraq or Darfur, to urge their men to stop the violence. (Indeed, producer Abby Disney said she and director Gini Reticker have shown the film in Peru and plan to screen it in Ramallah.)

At only 72 minutes, Pray the Devil actually could stand to be longer, as the film glosses over the women’s role in Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s election as Africa’s first female head of state. Besides, it would be a pleasure to spend more time with Leymah, Janet, Asatu and their compatriots.