Pray the Devil Back to Hell

In her clear-eyed look at the Liberian peace movement, director Gini Reticker concentrates on Leymah Gbowee, a social worker whose children--growing up during the civil war--feared for their lives. As she explains, President Charles Taylor, a man with ties to Al Qaeda, used underage rebels to do his dirty work, with the ensuing murder and rape leading thousands of citizens to flee to refugee camps. Out of frustration, Gbowee and members of her congregation started the Christian Women's Peace Initiative (CWPI), which even attracted Muslim members. After a violent opposition movement, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) formed to overthrow Taylor, and thousands of the CWPI women staged a sit-in for peace. Although Taylor initially refused to meet with the CWPI, they kept up the pressure until he backed down, after which they took their cause to LURD, which also agreed to attend peace talks in Ghana. When the dialogue stalled, Gbowee and her compatriots, now known as the Liberian Women for Peace, held a conference hall sit-in. Ultimately, Taylor went into exile, the UN helped clear the way for democratic elections, and the nation elected its first female head of state. In addition to Gbowee, others involved in the peace process share their thoughts, including the young men who relinquished their weapons during disarmament. DVD extras include Gbowee's acceptance speech at the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award ceremony and her interview on Bill Moyers Journal. A winner at the Tribeca Film Festival, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)