THE FEATHER PROJECT
COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE GENERATIONS FOR SURVIVAL ON EARTH
FEATHER PROJECT SHORT FILMS
PRODUCED, SHOT & EDITED BY ELIZABETH ASHLEY YOUNG
SOETENDORPINSTITUTE.ORG
YOUTUBE.COM/FEATHERPROJECT
Earth Charter + 10 Celebration at the Peace Palace
Official Launch of The Feather Project
The Hague, Netherlands - June 29, 2010
In Spring 2010, Some Day Fire Productions began work on The Feather Project, managed by the Jacob Soetendorp Institute for Human Values based in The Hague, Netherlands. The Feather Project is a web 2.0 multimedia platform that aims to build intergenerational dialogue between moral and spiritual leaders, and youth around the world. Inspired by the Earth Charter, The Feather Project was officially launched on June 29, 2010 at the Peace Palace located in The Hague, often referred to as “the seat of international law” since it houses The International Court of Justice, the principal judicial body of the United Nations. The Feather Project Film Trailer was screened at the Earth Charter + 10 Conference in the presence of the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Jan Peter Balkenende and was followed by a Talking Feather Ceremony led by Award Winning Humanitarian Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp and officiated by Maori Tribal Elder and Earth Charter Commissioner Pauline Tangiore. In the words of Native American Onondaga Nation Chief Oren Lyons, humanity needs a “values change for survival” — "if we do not change, we are not going to make it — period.”
The Feather Project Goes to India
November 2010
EC + 10 Ethical Framework for Sustainable Development
In fall 2010, Some Day Fire Productions joined the Feather Project tour through India and documented on film messages from Tibetan and Hindu moral and spiritual leaders including His Holiness the XVIIth Gyalwang Karmapa, a major figure in Tibetan Buddhism who escaped from Tibet at age 15 and was awarded refugee status by the Indian Government in 2001; Dadi Janki, then 94 year-old Administrative Head of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University; and Swami Maheshwarananda, “one of the most outstanding spiritual masters of all time who has dedicated his entire life to the service of all creatures” and also events/activities at the Earth Charter + 10 Ethical Framework for Sustainable Development conference. The Feather Project organized a Threads of Sustainability Ceremony at the historic Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram, during which cotton hand-spun by Gandhi was used as a talking piece and passed from elders to young people. The Ceremony was opened by Mary Evelyn Tucker, Earth Charter Commissioner and Co-Founder of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology and brought together Hindu spiritual leaders including Sri Sri Maheshwaranda, UN Representative of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University Sister Valeriane Bernard, India's beloved guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who shared their elder wisdom with the young people, and youth involved with Earth Charter India, the Nehru Foundation and Center for Environmental Education who shared their hopes and dreams for the future.
The Feather Project Goes to Rio+20
13 Grandmothers & Earth Guardians at the People's Summit
Rio de Janiero, Brazil - June 2012
Following a year and a half of active participation at Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development preparatory meetings at the UN Headquarters in New York City and also in Bonn, Germany and Klagenfurt, Austria, SDF Productions Director/Producer Young joined Feather Project Co-Founder Rabbi Soetendorp and Manager Michael Slaby, and the Green Cross International Delegation at the June 2012 Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. There Some Day Fire Productions documented on film panels/events and activities organized by the Soetendorp Institute in partnership with the Global Women's Peace Initiative, Green Cross International, and Earth Charter. A Talking Feather Ceremony featuring Grandmother Maria Alicia Campos Friere and Grandmother Mona Polacca of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, and Earth Guardians Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, age 12 and his younger brother Itzcuauhtli age 9 and other youth with indigenous ancestry, was held at the People's Summit, which took place parallel to Rio+20.