Hello UFETA Community -

We had an inspiring screening of Peaceable Kingdom this Sunday at my church which I'd like to tell you a little about. (I've posted a similar account at Tribe of Heart's email exchange, so if you subscribe to it, you may have already read most of this post. However, I have added a little more information here.)

As I've heard from others, the comment cards from these screenings are so gratifying, and they renew our hope and optimism. We had 61 people attend (27 from our church, and 34 from the community), and of those who attended, 35 completed comment cards that we collected. Their statements appear at the end of this post.

Harold Brown from Farm Sanctuary and a subject of Peaceable Kingdom attended and was outstanding in the hour-long comment, question and answer session that followed the screening. Even for the ninety minutes or so that followed that - while we disassembled the audio visual equipment, cleaned up, straightened chairs, etc. - people stayed to talk to him and ask questions.

We struggled a bit deciding how and when to convey to people the emotional impact of Peaceable Kingdom. After reading the many thoughtful posts on this subject from UFETA members, as well as similar ones posted through the email exchange of Tribe of Heart, we (my wife Vicky and I) decided not to give any warning prior to the event. We were concerned that this would discourage people from attending.

However, at the screening I gave a word of caution very similar to what's in the Screening Guide and what others have done or advised:

"The film has some difficult scenes. It also has, overall, a very positive message - and audience members have consistently commented on how they feel that they are in safe hands with the filmmakers because the sadness is balanced with humor and hope. The difficult scenes may cause some people to want to close their eyes or turn away, which is perfectly fine. I would like to recommend that you do stay to the completion of the film, however, so that you can experience the full story and participate in the after-screening discussion."

(Note: I heard yesterday from Tribe of Heart that Peaceable Kingdom's producers, James LaVeck and Jenny Stein, see some potential problems with the sentence "The difficult scenes may cause some people to want to close their eyes or turn away, which is perfectly fine." They are going to address this issue in the near future, and with their permission, I will pass along their comments to this UFETA email exchange.)

Geneva Pullen suggested an idea in a post to our UFETA community that we thought was a fantastic idea - offer childcare and show the kids Chicken Run. If you don't know about this G-rated, 84 minute movie, you can read a little about it at this link.

I referred to it this way in the introduction:

"We have childcare available downstairs. We're showing the Disney/DreamWorks film Chicken Run. It's a G-rated and a critically acclaimed movie for all ages. Unless you have a preteen already familiar with the great sadness of industrial farming, I invite you to let your child see Chicken Run downstairs. It will begin in a few minutes, and we can wait for you to come back upstairs before we begin Peaceable Kingdom.

I realize that how best to address this matter of informing the audience about Peaceable Kingdom's emotional impact is a matter of opinion. By stating what we did, I do not mean to suggest that this is how others should do it. However, I gained by learning of the opinions, rationales and decisions of others, even if we did not copy them, and offer a description of what we did in that spirit.

We had several publicity strategies, but what you might call our coup was suggested and orchestrated by my church's administrative assistant (she's a Lutheran who pushes all of us in the congregation to be better UUs). She arranged for a forty-five minute interview with Harold Brown and me on our local public radio station. It aired last Thursday, three days before Sunday's screening. Harold called in from Watkins Glen, NY to WGTD's The Morning Show, and I was in the studio to provide the what/where/when details. The host of the radio program had asked for a copy of Peaceable Kingdom and watched it the evening before our interview. When I came to the studio the next morning it was obvious it had quite an impact on him. His questions were "right on", as were Harold's responses. I'm certain that listeners were influenced. WGTD posts recordings of the The Morning Show at http://www.wgtd.org/morning.asp, however, this March 3rd program does not yet appear. (I've called the station to ask why, and hopefully it will appear soon.)

As we began to distribute flyers at organizations and businesses around town, we noticed that we generated interest when we mentioned "factory farming" to the people whose permission we were asking to post the flyers. Knowing that we would not have the opportunity to similarly explain Peaceable Kingdom to customers and other passers-by who would view the flyers, we decided to take advantage of this negative perception of factory farming in a positive way by adding these words (with Tribe of Heart's permission) to the top of the flyer showing Harold and Precious: "Freedom From Factory Farming: Come See A Better World - For Everyone." We thought this phrase complemented the blue sky background of the flyer, and faces (and eyes) of Precious and Harold.

One of the more gratifying aspects of the screening was working with the caterer. Vicky and I decided that we wanted the refreshments to not just satisfy hunger, but to be in education in themselves about how tasty cruelty-free food can be. Not knowing for certain how many people would come and what our time availability would be, we decided to use a caterer - Three Sisters Delicatessen here in Kenosha. We took in copies of two of our favorite cookbooks ("Vegan Vittles" by Joanne Sepaniak and one of PETA's cookbooks) and asked them to prepare a few of the items that seemed doable to them. Their response was outstanding. One of the sisters called Vicky later to say that her daughter has been trying to get her to go veg. We got the feeling that the owners and workers threw themselves into this project, calling us to talk about ideas from the cookbooks and inviting us over to try what they were experimenting with. One of the sister-owners, her daughter, and a friend of the daughter came to our screening. She told Vicky that they are going to develop and advertise vegan options. I brought some of the leftovers into work on Monday and put them in our break room with a sign stating they were made with no eggs, dairy, or other animals products. They were quickly taken, and a couple of people have since asked me about vegan nutrition.

If you haven't already, I would recommend holding a screening of Peaceable Kingdom. The idea of doing this was a little scary to Vicky and me, but Tribe of Heart offers great resources and support, as do members of this UFETA community who have held screenings (or are thinking about it) and who offered us helpful opinions and advice.

Our minister came to the screening with her partner. The next day she wrote me with the suggestion that they, Vicky and I, and a few others in the congregation begin to bring vegan-only dishes to our every-fourth-Sunday potlucks, as one way to educate the congregation about the alternatives to animal-based food. With our minister "on board" with this issue of the suffering of farm animals, I'm confident that we will see some major shifts of attitude in our congregation.

- Charlie

Audience Comments

Peaceable Kingdom Screening
Bradford Community Church -- Unitarian Universalist
Kenosha, Wisconsin
March 6, 2005

61 in audience
27 from BCCUU
34 from community
10 youth downstairs to watch Chicken Run

The audience was asked to comment on the film. They were given index cards with instructions written on them: "Please share with us your comments about the film and this screening event." We received comments from 35 audience members.

1. Absolutely WONDERFUL experience. Informative, shocking, but most importantly inspirational. Thank you for opening our minds and hearts!
2. I could not stop crying. Where in this area can I go to do 'hands on' care? I need to do this.
3. This film was overwhelming. It gave me much sadness. I don't know exactly what I can do to change things. I'll have to think for a while and decide what my place in this is. Thank you.
4. Excellent, sad, hopeful, unexplainable. Please continue this work!!
5. Very moving and inspiring! I will recommend it to my friends! It is a sad realization that I am a co-conspirator in such cruelty! I need to change!
6. The film exposed what I knew, however seeing the factory farms exposed the visualization of animal cruelty. This film was very educational. I'm not certain if I will turn vegetarian, however will trim down my meat consumption and spread the word regarding the treatment of factory farming. Thank you for coming here.
7. Thank you!
8. A most profound film that will certainly change my mind about meat eating. Becoming vegetarian will be an easy choice. I want to learn more.
9. Thank you.
10. Fabulous! The information, presentation, music was wonderful. Harold handled himself great with the Q & A session. He's an incredible asset to Farm Sanctuary.
11. This film has a powerful message and although I have been a vegetarian for 15 years I was lucky enough to visit Farm Sanctuary 10 years ago, it has given me renewed sense of commitment to spread the message.
12. Why are there no laws on how animals are treated on factory farms? Also animals left to die when sick, why no humane treatment?
13. I thought this program was informative and important in highlighting the cruelty in which animals are treated to produce food. I thought Harold Brown provided a good supplement to the film in answering questions.
14. So much to think about after the film... need to reflect and sort. The disconnect is the scary thing.
15. How many farm sanctuaries are there and where are they? While watching this film, I was reminded of the film 'Schindler's List'. It gave me the same combined sense of futility and hope.
16. Are you connected with PETA? I get so many mailings - hard to know if they are legitimate.
17. It was moving and thought provoking. I hope it gets on PBS and other cable stations. I was a vegetarian for 5 years. I may rethink that. 2% (?) DISCONNECT - INDOCTRINATION - need to emphasize these words.
18. I didn't realize how inhumane food animals were treated. Family farms must have been more humane??? I heard the comment 'if you don't name it, it's easier to eat.
19. Include information from research in intelligence and emotions in film. Explain or make a little more clear why cows were on the hall floors (maybe I missed explanation, but I was listening pretty good.)
20. I am looking into animal rescue. I never really knew how bad these animals were treated. I think if I had never stopped eating meat a few months ago this would have been very hard for me to watch! I am 14 years old and I don't know anyone my age that doesn't eat any type of animal.
21. It was good. Some parts made me sad.
22. Very powerful - unaware of factory farming. Would you speak more of how unhealthy it is to eat the contaminated chemically treated animals? Are there any humane farms that it would be OK to eat eggs - cheese?
23. Please inform new viewers that animal product for food is the only source of "bad" cholesterol. Encourage new viewers to be vegetarians because it is cheaper on our food budgets. Stress the fact that vegetarians live healthier lives, with far fewer incidents of cardiovascular diseases.
24. Thank you for making this presentation available.
25. This film well balanced between harrowing realism presented with restraint and hopeful alternatives. The music was so effective, so beautiful! I am already a vegetarian, but now I see I need to take another look at eating eggs and cheese.
26. It was great to have a chance to see this film. My only question is, for perspective, what is the percentage of extreme instances of direct cruelty? Also, do animals have rights, or can they be used? I guess my question is, is there a way to 'humanely' kill (for food) any animals? Is the objection to killing animals, or to the ways and means? Was/is it okay for native Americans to kill for food?
27. I saw some things which were very cruel to animals. I knew much of this but I learned a lot I didn't know. The film was very good.
28. Are there any industry voluntary standards or government regulations that could ensure humane treatment in animals agriculture? If not, any initiative to develop some? Is it this bad in foreign countries, too?
29. Are there any readily available sources of humanely raised animals products?
30. Excellent film - thank you. Could this be shown through broader media? PBS - Animal Planet, etc.
31. Thought provoking and moving. Detailed reality of a side of farming production I'd not known of. Great organization and preparation. Very knowledgeable speaker.
32. Good job. Could you say more about the laws requiring that animals be treated humanely? Do anti-cruelty laws exist?
33. A real eye opener - how the animals are treated. We have so many alternatives to meat eating! Children should be shown this film in schools - so they can chose for themselves and not just accept it is OK.
34. I think this film is a great film. It makes you change how you feel and think about animals. Animals are just like humans. They should get treated the same, too.
35. I feel this is very valuable and necessary information that all meat-eating people need to be aware of. The emotion is very easy to connect with. For those who don't think it matters we need to also present alternatives sources of dairy products, etc.

Charles Talbert
Bradford Community Church
A Unitarian Universalist Church
Kenosha, Wisconsin