Open World Toronto Film Festival 4th Edition

I was honoured to introduce Film Festival for Peace at the 4th annual #OWTFF in #Toronto. “Film for Peace” is a proactive initiative of Waterfront Magazine to address the escalation of violence in Toronto, in a creative way. Contestants were offered an opportunity to participate in the IdealMe program so they can create a powerful and world changing messages in their films. Thank you Karim Mirshahi and Sabine Mondestin! Great opening night at the Open World Toronto Film Festival OWTFF! It was wonderful to meet all fabulous filmmakers from around the world and share good news about collaboration between OWTFF and Film Festival for Peace initiated by Toronto Waterfront Magazine.

@FilmforPeace is an experiential creative initiative organized by Toronto Waterfront Magazine (TWM) to address the escalation of violence in Toronto and GTA. Residents of Ontario are invited to submit a short film addressing the issue of violence that is informative, inspiring and entertaining. The key component of the contest is to raise awareness of the underlying contributing factors leading to violence, such as bullying, mental health, addictions, social isolation, poverty, rejections of minority groups, etc. Entrants will be judged on their ability to effectively communicate, through the medium of film, potential solutions to achieving sustainable peace as a community. Valuable prizes and scholarships will be available to winning entrants, as judged by the team of volunteers with art and filmmaking backgrounds at Toronto Waterfront Magazine (TWM).

I am proud to offer IdealMe for contestants so they can learn how to build a powerful message to promote peace in the community. Peaceful co-existence is the most fundamental asset to community building and is essential to ensuring productive and meaningful lives within sustainable societies. In the past few years, we are witnessing a drastic increase in violence and acts of aggression in the world. The obvious question is, how can we advance peace, and strengthen our communities?

The essential step in this process is to establish peace within one’s self. Being able to regulate one’s own emotions, acknowledging and accepting one’s own worth and flaws, and becoming a leader that you would want to follow. During the program, participants will learn how to develop leadership skills and assertiveness techniques that will help create a powerful and persuasive message that includes preventative strategies and solutions to aggression and violence. Participants will learn skills necessary for regulating emotions, solving problems in a constructive way, and improving self-advocacy skills. The Ideal Me course taps into one’s own latent power, unleashes inner qualities of confidence and enthusiasm, and helps in building positive visibility.