The Nobel Prize, National Geographic Documentary Films and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Orlando von Einsiedel have collaborated on a 5-part short documentary series, celebrating the ongoing impact and influence of Nobel Peace Prize laureates around the world. Watch the films here.
Still Human
“Losing a leg made me view myself as the least valuable person in the world”
In 1998, Makur Diet lost his leg to a bullet in war-damaged South Sudan. Despairing for his future, Makur was close to committing suicide, until he was given a prosthetic leg. Makur realised that he now had a chance to do something good in the world and decided to devote his life to helping other amputees. At an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) centre in South Sudan, Makur makes prosthetic legs and gives hope to other persons who have lost a limb. He is helping to rebuild his country, one leg at a time.
Makur works at an International Committee of the Red Cross centre in South Sudan. The ICRC have received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1917, 1944 and 1963.
Lost and Found
“If they lose a child, it is like a double persecution”
In the chaos of the world’s largest refugee camp, Kamal Hussein is a beacon of hope. From his small ramshackle hut, and armed only with a microphone, he has taken it upon himself to try and reunite the thousands of Rohingya families who have been torn apart by violence and ethnic cleansing in Myanmar. However, in finding lost family members and bringing them back together, he is not just helping them. He is also finding peace for himself.
Kamal’s work is funded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1954 and 1981.
Into the Fire
“One wrong step will cost me my life”
In an area of Iraq destroyed by ISIS, Hana Khider leads an all-female team of Yazidi deminers in their attempts to clear the land of mines. Their job involves painstakingly searching for booby traps in bombed out buildings and fields, where one wrong move means certain death. Even though the devastations caused by ISIS still are evident and the local people are suffering, they are trying to forget the past and remain hopeful.
Hana works for the Mines Advisory Group, an organisation who are part of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a coalition awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.
The Lost Forest
“The local people know of nobody in the surrounding communities who have ever been up to the forest”
How would natural habitats develop without human interference? In this documentary we follow an international team of scientists and explorers on an extraordinary mission in Mozambique to reach a forest that no human has set foot in. The team aims to collect data from the forest to help our understanding of how climate change is affecting our planet. But the forest sits atop a mountain, and to reach it, the team must first climb a sheer 100m wall of rock.
The scientist’s work is based on research conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
An Unfinished Symphony
“I honestly believe that music can bring people together. Music is a universal language”
Here you get to follow the two South African musicians; Tsepo Pooe, who grew up in Soweto Township; and Lize Schaap, who grew up in wealthy Pretoria. They are both part of a very special and unique orchestra, the Miagi Orchestra. Inspired by the legacy of 1993 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nelson Mandela, the orchestra aims to help the nation overcome decades of violence, conflict and division through the power of music.
The videos are available all over the world, apart from in Australia, New Zealand and India.
First published 20 May 2020