Message from the Filmmakers
Peaceable Kingdom Update

Dear Friends,

     Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home is alive and well. A 90-minute rough cut of the film was completed in October of this year. This next phase of the process, known as the fine cut, is approximately 50% complete. Once we have completed the fine cut, we will begin audience testing, and incorporate any necessary changes into the final film. When you hear from us next, we expect to be announcing our plans and schedule for release.

     Our creative team is very excited about the way the fine cut of the film is coming together. We believe that Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home will attract the widest audience yet of any of our films, with a storyline any viewer can relate to, underscored by an in-depth exploration of the moral dimensions of animal exploitation that's truly unique in the current cultural landscape.

     Moving beyond today's framing of the animal issue as needless suffering caused by the excesses of industrialized farming, this film is rather a portrait of who animals are, what their lives might be if we chose not to exploit them, the magnitude of what they lose when we objectify them, shatter their bonds of family and friendship, and take ownership of their bodies as our resources. Equally important, the film explores what we lose when we put aside our value for kindness -- indeed our own humanity -- in service of our rituals, habits and economic interests. And most importantly, it explores what we might regain if we change our relationship to animals and choose to see them as individuals worthy of our compassion and respect.

     As many of you know, we had hoped to be in a position to release Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home in 2007. But this was a year full of unprecedented developments, both with our film The Witness, and with the animal movement itself, each requiring time and resources, and ultimately, extending the completion date for the film.

     For those who wish to help us get to the finish line more quickly, at this point, financial support would make the biggest difference. Our financial reserves are exhausted, to the point that we must now pause the filmmaking work in order to raise funds. At the same time, we are at a wonderfully rich point in the creative process, and overwhelmed by the number of international opportunities that are opening up for The Witness, all of which are paving the way for the eventual international release of Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home.

     So if you believe as we do that the subject matter and message of this film are worth a sustained commitment, please consider making a donation to help us keep the momentum going. The greatest honor of our lives has been the opportunity to serve this cause, and the greatest joy has been helping empower so many educators and activists who have in turn empowered us. Through the process of working with you, we are doing all we can to express on the screen the very best of this community’s spirit -- the truth, the courage, and the vision of peace, healing and compassion that makes our lives worth living. Thank you for sharing this adventure with us, and for standing up for those who have so very few advocates in this world.

     Warm wishes for the holidays and the coming new year.

Co-Founders, Tribe of Heart

Back to HeartBeat Newsletter

 Click to view Film Preview

 
Director Jenny Stein works at the
Tribe of Heart editing suite

Scenes from
Peaceable Kingdom:
The Journey Home

Goat friends Fudge & Veruca

Former farmer Harold Brown takes a look at Crystal, a gravely ill dairy cow surrendered to sanctuary.


Harold helps former farmer Jim Vandersluis of Maple Farm Sanctuary.


Cher Ezell-Vandersluis of
Maple Farm Sanctuary bottle feeds Habibi, Crystal's orphaned calf.

At just four days old,
Habibi celebrates being alive!