New York, NY, March 8, 2017– Executive Producer and Transformation Ambassador, Judyth Nsababera, has a big vision. She is producing a feature-length documentary to show the world what the United Nations and others have identified as one of the most effective, powerful… and sadly, under-utilized course of action in peacekeeping: The deployment of women. Ms. Nsababera will stop at nothing to meet the goals of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. The 2005 resolution calls on all actors participating in conflict resolution to adopt a gender perspective that results in reaching parity between men and women peacekeepers.
“My mother was one of Uganda’s first high-ranking woman police officers.” says Nsababera. “I saw first-hand what happens when a woman arrives on the scene in uniform. She has access to every segment of a population: other women, children, and vulnerable populations.”
In spite of the clear benefits of women peacekeepers and the commitment of UN partner states, fewer than 5% of all peacekeepers are women. Ms. Nsababera thinks that number should be higher after eleven years of efforts. She has chosen to collaborate with award-winning production team, Lou Douros (director and co-producer) and John Northrup (cinematographer and co-producer), to explore the stories of actual women peacekeepers, filming directly within UN peacekeeping missions.
“The story of women still vastly outnumbered by their male counterparts in UN peacekeeping forces was too compelling to pass up,” says the film’s director, Lou Douros. “When Judyth approached us with these statistics, our hearts sank. Of all places, you would hope the urgency of a U.N. peacekeeping mission would call for absolute best practices. That’s not always the case.”
“Even with notable advances in awareness of gender issues,” adds co-producer, John Northrup, “the story of courageous women waging peace as a profession is missing from conversations in the public square.”
Lou Douros and John Northrup are frequent collaborators and are known for their commitment to documentary-style storytelling; last year they co-produced a project about the persecution of Christians and minorities in South Sudan, Iraq, and the West Bank. In 2013, they focused on preventing humpback whale entanglements in Alaska and Hawaii for the short film, Northern Wake, a sequel to Douros’ Emmy-nominated documentary, In the Wake of Giants. In the Wake of Giants won at the Blue Ocean Film Festival (Monterey), San Francisco Ocean Film Festival (San Francisco), Gray’s Reef Ocean Film Festival (Savannah, GA), and Pelagos (Rome)
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If you would like more information about this film, please contact Lou Douros at (929)356-4563 or email at lou@aboutfacemovie.com.