Pray the Devil Back to Hell

After previous award-winning documentaries about women in Rwanda and Morocco, filmmaker Gini Reticker now focuses on the Liberian Women of Peace. LWP is a women's rights movement in the African country of Liberia, which has been plagued by civil war since 1989. In a war that is partially caused by religious issues, the unique aspect about this movement is that it includes both Christian and Muslim women. As one of them puts it, "Can the bullet pick and choose? Does the bullet know Christians from Muslims?" In 2003, at the absolute low point of the civil war, these white-clad women took the initiative to end the conflict in a non-violent manner. To interpret the stories of these women and the atrocities of the war, Reticker alternates archive footage (including drugged child soldiers and speeches by then-President Charles Taylor) with interviews and recent footage of Liberia. By means of sustained protest campaigns, the LWP manages to make the rebel leaders and Taylor participate in the peace process in neighbouring Ghana. When after six weeks the negotiations seem to be heading for a deadlock, they play their last trump in the hotel lobby, threatening to undress in public. It turned out to be a memorable moment in all respects.