ORLANDO, Fla. — The Global Peace Film Festival is back this week, marking 23 years of using film to spark conversations and connect communities across Central Florida.
When the festival first launched in 2003, founder Nina Streich admits she didn’t know her way around Orlando. She remembers getting lost often, driving to community groups and meeting anyone willing to listen.
“The second year, I had very little money. I didn’t know the area code down here, so I didn’t know a lot of people… I started meeting people. I just would go to meet anybody, anywhere,” Streich said.
Two decades later, the festival she built has become a staple in Central Florida’s arts calendar — and one that brings filmmakers from across the world to share stories of peace, justice and resilience.
“Stories move people. Stories engage people,” Streich said. “You elicit empathy from your audience, and that’s the first step to taking action to do something positive about what you’ve seen.”
That sense of connection has guided the event as it’s grown. Support from Orange County in 2008 gave the festival its first cultural tourism grant, helping establish it as an event with staying power. Over the years, Streich said, the goal has remained the same: to use film as a spark for community conversations.
This year, the festival is adding new voices and new energy. Two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple will be in town for screenings of her work at Rollins College. And for the first time, the festival is partnering with Afro TV on International Drive to launch Urban Fest 360.
“Urban Fest 360 expands the programming to cover other genres than we usually present,” Streich said. “It’s an exciting way to bring in new audiences and voices to the festival.”
The festival’s films range from environmental documentaries to deeply personal stories, but Streich said what happens after the credits roll is just as important. Community organizations often sit alongside audiences, offering people a chance to get involved.
“We have a lot of community partners… and we hope that people who come to see the films are inspired by what they’ve seen and want to do something,” she said. “Maybe there’s an organization that’s in the audience that says, hey, this is what we’re doing here. And somebody in the audience is like, how can I help? What can I do? So that’s the impact we want to see.”
The impact isn’t always immediate, but Streich said she’s seen it firsthand. Just last week, while speaking at Rollins College, a student told her she changed her major after attending the festival.
“She realized that she was really into what she saw, and saw it as something she could do when she finished at Rollins,” Streich said. “That’s what I love about it.”
The Global Peace Film Festival runs through Saturday at Rollins College and the Winter Park Library, with an online program of free short films streaming worldwide Sept. 22–28.
You can find more information on the website.
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