Scared Sacred

The director of this award-winning documentary wanders the globe on a five-year odyssey, in search of what he calls today's "Ground Zeroes." Velcrow Ripper seeks individuals who continue to hope in the dark places of the world ranging from Bhopal to Sarajevo to Kabul to Phnom Penh to Jerusalem.

Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival, Scared Sacred focuses on individuals driven to turn tragedy into generosity. A child soldier of the Khmer Rouge decommissions land mines. A Sufi musician banned by the Taliban from playing his lute fills his house with songbirds. A human rights worker confronted with the Bhopal disaster builds a unique health clinic for victims of the toxic Union Carbide gases.

The inspirational stories visualized over and over through the camera lens are a reminder of the resilience possible within each human being.