Forcing an end to war in Liberia
New film honors women's bravery
In a modest Dracut apartment complex, neighbors pass Janet Johnson Bryant in the hallway or nod to her in the parking lot unaware that she used to look one of the most feared men of Western Africa in the eye and demand he speak the truth. Or that she risked her life in the cause of peace for her home country of Liberia.
On Friday, a documentary featuring Johnson Bryant - and recently short-listed for an Academy Award - is set to open at the Coolidge Corner Theatre.
In "Pray the Devil Back to Hell," Johnson Bryant recounts how Liberian women, Christian and Muslim alike, united to help end a brutal civil war in 2003. The factions of then-president Charles Taylor and the rebel forces of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy had brought their country to its knees by recruiting child soldiers, displacing tens of thousands, and using rape as a weapon.
At the time, Johnson Bryant was a radio journalist in Liberia assigned to the beat of the executive mansion occupied by Taylor. Her determination to expose corruption within his regime, even as he exerted a stranglehold on all forms of media, earned her the nickname "Iron Lady of Media," she said recently in an interview at her home.
Her reputation made its way to American director Gini Reticker, who shot preliminary interviews with about 15 Liberian women involved with the movement's organizing body, Women in Peacebuilding Network. Using non-violent demonstrations and other actions, the coalition pressured Taylor and the rebel forces to meet in Ghana for United Nations-sponsored peace talks.
In one spontaneous moment of frustration, movement leader Leymah Gbowee threatened to remove her clothes - a curse in Liberian culture - unless the men resumed negotiations, which they did, paving the way toward a provisional government and democratic elections.
Gbowee calls the subsequent election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to the presidency, the first female African head of state, "the icing on the cake."
Reticker said by phone that she selected Johnson Bryant as one of the six main sources for her film because, as a respected journalist, "she was somebody I thought could verify things."
The story of the Liberian women originally came to Reticker's attention by way of Abigail Disney, the film's producer, who had overheard whispers of the movement during a visit to Liberia with a delegation from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Once the film was finished, Disney contacted Connie White, past co-director of the Boston International Festival of Women's Cinema, who, with her husband, went on to found Balcony Releasing. Their company handles the theatrical release of documentaries, including "Pray the Devil Back to Hell."
The international media had overlooked the heroism of ordinary women, and their crucial role in the peace process, observed Reticker.
Johnson Bryant offered an explanation: "What women do is swept under the carpet. People are more concerned about what men are doing. They want to see how power changes hands or want to know who's killing who." But Johnson Bryant set about recording stories about women's contributions to the community, and she broadcast that perspective through a radio show for women.
Working on their film, Reticker found it easy to acquire video of "boys with guns," she said, with violence so horrific that "I felt like poison was seeping into me." But there was almost nothing of the hundreds, sometimes thousands of women, who would sit in a field, wearing the symbolic color of white and holding protest signs, day after long, hot day.
"Janet helped us identify photos and fact check; she is very modest, for what she has done," said Reticker.
Bryant Johnson moved to Lowell in May 2007. She is currently working double shifts to pay the bills, and aiming toward a new goal: earning a master's degree in international diplomacy and returning to Liberia.
Most wars, not just Liberia's, are understood through the lens of killing, said Reticker. Nor is it unique to see women at the forefront of peace movements.
"It's not about gender, or that women are more peace-loving," she said. "In a lot of conflicts today, civilians are being terrorized to extract the wealth of the country. Women are coming to the forefront because they are being targeted."
Johnson Bryant will answer questions after the 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. screenings on Dec. 5. Disney and another "Pray the Devil" subject, Asatu Bah Kenneth, will be at a Q&A following 7 and 9 p.m. shows on Dec. 6 and the 2 p.m. screening on Dec. 7. Details at www.coolidge.org. 