Nina Chaudry, senior producer of PBS's new five−part documentary titled "Women, War & Peace," last night held a screening of a condensed version of the poignant series, which showcases the role of women in modern warfare. The filmmaker also answered questions about the production process as well as her inspirations and motivations.
The series focuses specifically on issues related to women in conflict zones in Colombia, Liberia, Bosnia and Afghanistan.
The first episode, titled "I Came to Testify," which premiered Oct. 11, featured the story of the trial of the 16 women who testified against perpetrators of war crimes during the war in the Balkans in the 1990s. The next episode is scheduled to air tonight.
Research for the series began in 2007, Chaudry noted, and production started in 2009. Chaudry and her team wanted to focus specifically on events and areas that have been affected since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
"War has changed over the last 20 years," Chaudry said, noting the use of fear and the killing of innocent civilians have eliminated what used to be cut−and−dryfrontlines.
The series touches upon issues including arms trafficking, displacement, rape in war and female networking in times of conflict, she explained.
In modern−day warfare, civilians are the target of the enemy more often that not, Chaudry noted. Although war is frequently seen and told through a man's perspective, Chaudry hoped to give the viewer a sample of how wars affect women and how women affect wars.
Last night's screening featured short clips from each of the episodes. The segment from the episode titled "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" focused on the joint effort of Christian and Muslim women in Liberia during the 2003 civil war to protest violence.
The piece showcased the power of women working to network and organize to support the needs of their people and their country.
After the viewing, Chaudry answered questions about her experience producing the series.
Chaudry explained that she was inspired to work on the film in part by the book "The Other Side of War: Women's Stories of Survival and Hope" (2006) by ZainabSalbi. She was disconcerted by the lack of a previous attempt to capture and film the subject of women and war.
Obtaining speakers and footage for the film was quite difficult, especially given the controversial and recent nature of many the conflicts depicted, according to Chaudry.
Civilians, in particular women and children, have not been accurately represented and credited for their current role in military conflict, she added.
"No one was shifting the lens to women," Chaudry said. "We feel our job as filmmakers is to film these untold stories."
The timing of the series was apt given that the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to three female political activists earlier this month, Chaudry noted.
She hopes that the new series will call more people to action.
"We want people to think about war differently," Chaudry said. "It's really about waking people up."
Junior Bronwen Raff was disappointed by the relatively small and predominantly female audience that attended the event. "We don't know enough about it, and people don't care enough about it," Raff said.
Arlen Weiner, a junior, expressed her dissatisfaction in the lack of focus at Tufts on women's issues.
"Tufts is known especially for its IR department … yet I feel that the majority of those students and the majority of those classes don't focus on the huge role that women play in conflict and in politics, or the lack of roles they are allowed to have in [these fields]," Weiner said. "I think you can't really study international relations without studying women, you can't study political science without studying gender, and I think that it's something that's really ignored in those disciplines at Tufts."
Junior Amanda Borrow voiced similar sentiments, adding that the series will hopefully raise awareness of the often−ignored prevalent issues facing women today.
"This series also gives light to a new phenomenon that people don't necessarily know … that war has changed, and I think it's a thing that hasn't really been recognized," Borrow said. "People just don't understand that [war is] getting so much more complex for civilians."



