“The Armor of Light” Film Screening and Discussion
A video recording of this event is available for viewing on our YouTube channel.
The Program on Negotiation Film Series,
Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School,
Pforzheimer House at Harvard University,
and Religions and the Practice of Peace Initiative at Harvard Divinity School
are pleased to co-present:
The Armor of Light
A film screening and discussion with
Abigail Disney
Director, The Armor of Light
CEO and President, Fork Films
and
Rob Schenck
Evangelical minister and founder, Faith and Action
President, National Clergy Council
Chairman, Evangelical Church Alliance
Moderated by
Iris Bohnet
Professor of Public Policy
Director, Women and Public Policy Program
Harvard Kennedy School
Thursday, March 31, 2016
7:00 PM
Ames Courtroom, Austin Hall
Harvard Law School
Free admission; public welcome. Snacks and refreshments will be provided.
About the film:
Abigail Disney’s directorial debut, The Armor of Light, follows the journey of an Evangelical minister trying to find the courage to preach about the growing toll of gun violence in America. The film tracks Reverend Rob Schenck, anti-abortion activist and fixture on the political far right, who breaks with orthodoxy by questioning whether being pro-gun is consistent with being pro-life. Along the way, Rev. Schenck meets Lucy McBath, the mother of Jordan Davis, an unarmed teenager who was murdered in Florida and whose story has cast a spotlight on “Stand Your Ground” laws. McBath, also a Christian, decides to work with Schenck even though she is pro-choice. Lucy is trying to make sense of her devastating loss while using her grief to effect some kind of viable and effective political action.
The Armor of Light follows these unlikely allies through their trials of conscience, heartbreak and rejection, as they bravely attempt to make others consider America’s gun culture through a moral lens. The film is also a courageous look at our fractured political culture and an assertion that it is, indeed, possible for people to come together across deep party lines to find common ground.
About the Speakers:
Abigail Disney is an award-winning filmmaker, philanthropist, and the CEO and president of Fork Films. An active supporter of peacebuilding, she is passionate about advancing women’s roles in the public sphere. Disney’s 20+ films and series focus on social issues, sharing a quality of spotlighting extraordinary people who speak truth to power. Disney’s directorial debut, The Armor Of Light, has been selected for the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.
Having grown up in a family of filmmakers, Disney turned to documentaries in 2008, inspired to tell the story of a brave group of women who used nonviolent protests and sex strikes to bring an end to Liberia’s long civil war. That film, Pray The Devil Back To Hell, won best documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2008, and screened in 60 countries around the world on all seven continents.
The extraordinary response to Pray The Devil Back To Hell led Disney to work on the five-part special series for PBS, “Women, War & Peace,” which aired in 2011 and was the winner of the
Overseas Press Club’s Edward R. Murrow Award, a Gracie Award, and a Television Academy Honor. Pray The Devil Back To Hell also led to Disney founding Peace is Loud, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting and spotlighting women who are stepping up for peace and resisting violence in their communities.
Disney has also executive produced films on a wide array of social issues, including 1971, Family Affair, Citizen Koch, Hot Girls Wanted, The Invisible War (Academy Award® Nominee, Best Documentary Feature), Return, and Sun Come Up (Academy Award® Nominee, Best Documentary Short).
Reverend Rob Schenck, the film’s protagonist, is an Evangelical minister and founder of the Christian outreach organization Faith and Action, based in Washington, DC. His candid and personal views on Capitol Hill activities have put him at the center of many Washington news conferences. He is often a guest on TV and radio shows, and he has been the focus of feature stories in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, and Los Angeles Times. Rev. Schenck is also the president of the National Clergy Council and the chairman of the Evangelical Church Alliance.
Iris Bohnet is Professor of Public Policy and the director of the Women and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School. She is also the co-chair of the Behavioral Insights Group (BIG) at the Center for Public Leadership at HKS, an associate director of the Harvard Decision Science Laboratory and the faculty chair of the executive program Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century for the World Economic Forums Young Global Leaders. A behavioral economist combining insights from economics and psychology, her research focuses on questions of trust and decision-making, often with a gender or cross-cultural perspective. Professor Bohnet teaches decision-making, negotiation and gender in public policy and leadership in degree and executive programs, and has been engaged in the teaching, training and consulting of private and public sector leaders in the United States, Europe, India and the Middle East.
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