A PEACEFUL WARRIOR 

I filmed initially in 1992 when on a trip with a non profit organization, Olympia Institute, supporting war veterans who had experienced post traumatic stress disorder. I was able to film many of the upcoming leaders in Dagestan who planned to run for political office in the regions first democratic elections. I returned to Dagestan the following year with a well know cinematographer, John Knoop, filming many of these men who now had political positions. We witnessed the impact democracy had had on a culture that had been unchanged for decades. This was the first film produced by Iris Arts with a budget of $5000 provided by Alan Slifka, who has contributed on a large scale to the peaceful co-existence movement. The final product was on video which was produced with the level of technology available to Iris Arts at the time.