Watch the online film ‘A Force More Powerful’ about nonviolent resistance movements

During this pandemic, more people are watching films at home. One film you may want to check out is ‘A More Powerful Force’.

It was first produced as a film in 1999 and then later presented as a PBS television series in the United States in 2000.

It explores six successful nonviolent movements, including Gandhi’s leadership of the Indian Independence movement, the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, the boycotts in the Eastern Cape Province as part of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, the Danish resistance to Nazi Occupation, the Polish Solidarity Movement, and the Chilean democracy movement to end the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.

The founding statement of Peace Brigades International highlights, “We are building on a rich and extensive heritage of nonviolent action.”

This documentary explores some of that history.

Peace Brigades International-Canada even has even participated in a public forum that discussed ‘A Force More Powerful’.

In June 2006, PBI-Canada took part in “a full day of public discussions, workshops and presentations focusing on peace” at the University of Victoria.

The schedule notes that “guest speakers from Peace Brigades International” took part in discussions with the audience following the screening of “two half-hour segments of a documentary film series ‘A Force More Powerful’ which explores places where non-violent action has overcome oppression.”

The schedule also indicates that Murray Thomson, one of the founders of PBI in September 1981, participated in a panel discussion.

The full 77-minute film ‘A Force More Powerful’ can be seen online here.

A 16-page study guide for the film can be found here.