PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL  2008, 72 minutes, USA, video.  By Gini Reticker and Abigail E. Disney

Pray the Devil Back to Hell chronicles the remarkable story of the courageous Liberian women who came together to end a bloody civil war and bring peace to their shattered country.  Thousands of women — ordinary mothers, grandmothers, aunts and daughters, both Christian and Muslim — came together to pray for peace and then staged a silent protest outside of the Presidential Palace. Armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions, they demanded a resolution to the country’s civil war. Their actions were a critical element in bringing about a agreement during the stalled peace talks.

A story of sacrifice, unity and transcendence, Pray the Devil Back to Hell honors the strength and perseverance of the women of Liberia. Inspiring, uplifting, and most of all motivating, it is a compelling testimony of how grassroots activism can alter the history of nations.

Pray the Devil Back to Hell Trailer from Film Sprout on Vimeo.

This event is presented with African Film Festival, Inc

Preceded By: OUSMANE SEMBENE  2009, 7 minutes, USA, video, work-in-progress documentary about Ousmane Sembene, the father of African Cinema will precede the feature. Directed by Mamadou Niang

PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL producer Johanna Hamilton and cinematographer Kirsten Johnson from will be present for a discussion following the screening.  Mamadou Niang will also be present to discuss this work-in-progress documentary.

“Uplifting, disheartening, inspiring, enraging – the mind reels while watching the documentary “Pray the Devil Back to Hell,” even as the eyes water, the temples pound and the body trembles.”

– Manohla Dargis (NY Times)

“A lucidly impassioned film, filled with strong, eloquent spokeswomen.”

– Ronnie Scheib (Variety)

Mamadou Niang is an international journalist, reporter and producer, with more than 25 years of experience covering news, documentaries and human-interest pieces for global television and radio.  With over 20 productions completed, or in the works, Mr. Niang is renown for his films that explore political and cultural issues.  His films and reports have been featured in the United States on the Discovery Channel and WNYC-TV, NY and have aired on France Télévisions as well as CBC, Canada and Radio Quebec.  Mr. Niang is an accomplished activist when it comes to the African Diaspora in America and promoting African arts and culture globally.  He sits on multiple panels that explore and communicate African world cinematic contributions; has successfully lobbied and led a media blitz to have the New York City Council adopt an African Day (September 15th); and is a founding board member of the NY African Film Festival, now in its 15^th year at Lincoln Center.

Gini Reticker (Director) is the producer of Asylum, an Academy Award® – nominated 20 minute short focusing on the story of a Ghanian woman who fled FGM to seek political asylum in the U.S. She produced and directed the Emmy Award-winning documentary Ladies First (for the PBS series Wide Angle), which focuses on the role of women in rebuilding post-genocide Rwanda. She has also directed The Class of 2006, which spotlights the first fifty women in Morocco to graduate from an imam academy in Rabat. Reticker’s other work includes: • A Decade Under the Influence (winner of a National Review Board Award and an Emmy nomination for Best Documentary). • Out of the Darkness: Women and Depression (winner of both an Emmy and a Gracie Award. • Blazes of Light, an update on women and HIV (Gracie Award recipient and an Emmy nomination). Before becoming a producer and director, Reticker served as an editor on the renowned documentary Roger & Me among other movies and series.

Abigail E. Disney (Producer) is Founder and the President of the Daphne Foundation, a progressive, social change Foundation that makes grants to grassroots, community-based organizations working with low-income communities in New York City. Over the years, the Daphne foundation has provided more than five million dollars in general operating support grants, along with grants for technical assistance, and infrastructure improvement. Abigail is also Vice Chair of the board of Shamrock Holdings Incorporated, an investment company that runs fund in private equity, real estate and stocks. Abigail has also spoken to a wide variety of women’s groups, community foundations and financial professionals across the country and internationally about the power of activist philanthropy and the importance of pursuing a life of engaged and intelligent volunteerism. Abby serves on the boards of the White House Project, and the Global Fund for Women, and the Fund for the City of New York, as well as on the advisory boards of the Association to Benefit Children, and the HIV Law Project. She is currently co-producing, with Gini Reticker, a series for Wide Angle and WNET tentatively called “Women and Children First” about the changing role of women in conflict worldwide.

Pamela Cohn is a freelance multimedia producer and documentary filmmaker and DP based in New York with several international projects in development and production. Her documentary with Lisandro Perez-Rey, “La Fabri_K: The Cuban Hip Hop Factory,” screened at the AFI International Film Festival in Los Angeles in 2005, and she is in pre-production on another Cuba-based project. She is researching and writing a book on international female nonfiction and experimental filmmakers and covers film festivals and nonfiction filmmaking at Still in Motion and other arts, media and film sites. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in New York in 1993 with concentrations in poetry, American history and Italian language and literature. She welcomes any questions on any aspect of the process, creative, logistical or otherwise, and is happy to share resources, ideas and technical information.