About

From the Civil Rights Movement to Gaza, nonviolent resistance is increasingly important in conflicts across the world. The New Freedom Fighters explores this phenomenon through the experiences of women who live every day under military threat. As a descendant of genocide survivors, I grew up inspired by stories of the women in my family who survived the Armenian Genocide.  They held our family together and built a life for us in America, using creative nonviolence to shape a better future, as women have so often done with little recognition.  The New Freedom Fighters considers a movement of women who use nonviolent resistance to defend their human rights and mitigate the consequences of war in their communities.  In the villages and towns hardest hit by the shelling of the petroleum powerhouse across the border, you will see signs of poverty, despair and terror penetrating the most intimate spaces of daily life.

The lives of the women you meet here have been irrevocably shaped by war.  Despite feeling the effects of the violence on their homes, families, career prospects, and communities, these women understand the need for creative nonviolence to break the cycle of war and intolerance. The New Freedom Fighters introduces women taking leadership roles in the nonviolent resistance movement, along with women who choose to be positive examples and leaders in their everyday lives, sharing their stories.  Their portraits speak with deep emotion, telling stories of hardship, determination, strength, hope, courage, and their belief in the future.

These women are not simply waiting for the future.  They are thinking creatively to envision a new future for their communities. They are developing agriculture, creating art, educating, peacebuilding, and working hard to create the future they imagine.  They refuse to believe that they cannot do what they aspire to do, and so one step at a time they are succeeding, empowering other women with their achievements.  The New Freedom Fighters are seizing control of their own narratives, and becoming the agents of change, sharing the power of their movement.