MAKING PEACE WITH POLITICS

A BIG IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME

Making Peace With Politics is the working title of our next film. Its premise is that to make peace with "the other," we first have to make peace with ourselves.

This is true of addressing tensions in our personal relationships and family. This is true of building bridges within and between our communities. This is true of ending violence in war zones, such as Israel Palestine.

“If you do not begin your peace work with yourself, where will you go to begin it?"

- Thich Nhat Hanh, “The Other Shore”

  • Making Peace With Politics is the working title of our next film. Its premise is that to make peace with "the other," we first have to make peace with ourselves.

    This is true of addressing tensions in our personal relationships and family. This is true of building bridges within and between our communities. This is true of ending violence in war zones, such as Israel Palestine.

    “If you do not begin your peace work with yourself, where will you go to begin it?"

  • Our research and preproduction efforts have taken us to Israel and the West Bank. We've made friends with both Palestinian and Israeli peacemakers. These are courageous, inspirational souls who’ve stepped up to the task of Making Peace With Politics.

    This preproduction phase has been part-funded by a €50,000 donation from a generous and like-minded individual.

    The money allowed us to build bridges and trust with Palestinian and Israeli peacemaking organisations directly in France and the Holy Land. We're working with them to understand how best to tell their stories of peacemaking. We're working with them to find protagonists who live out peacemaking in their everydays.

  • We’re excited to have the award-winning director, Clément Guerra, as Impact Director. Clément collaborated with indigenous communities across the Americas - on the frontlines of fossil fuel extraction, devastation and violence - to produce the film The Condor and the Eagle.

    Working with these communities and carefully selected other partners, Clément organised more than a hundred screening events that raised more than $100,000 for the impacted communities. Together, the filmmaking process and subsequent programme of events helped the film’s featured communities to build alliances and raise funds.

    Clément has brought those skills to All Hands On’s impact model. We embedded that impact thinking into Making Peace With Politics from its outset.

    See our About page for more details of our model.

    See our Events page for more detail on the model in action.

  • During 2024, All Hands On Producer/Director, Patrick Chalmers, volunteered on three retreats with Palestinian and Israeli peacemakers at Plum Village in South West France. In November, he remote directed filming in Jerusalem of Israeli ex-journalist and peace activist Lisa Talesnick and Bedouin Islamic faith leader Haj Ibrahim Abu El-Hawa.

    In December, he attended a ten-day retreat of the Roots organisation, outside Paris, France. The event allowed him the chance to get to know Palestinian and Israeli staff and volunteers at Roots, building trust. He also filmed public presentations in Paris by Roots staff members Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger and Noor A'wad.

    Work in January 2025 involved Patrick spending two weeks in the Holy Land on preproduction research. In Jerusalem, the West Bank, Tel Aviv and Neve Shalom/Wahat-as-Salaam peace village, he met a host of activists and peacemakers including Maoz Inon. Some of them he filmed.

    Patrick also shot B-Roll footage in Jerusalem’s Old City and elsewhere. It included Maoz’s guided peace tour in Nazareth’s old quarter and a multi-faith peace walk in the same city.

Walking the peace talk

Patrick Chalmers, co-founder of All Hands On, created Making Peace With Politics from his experiences as a journalist, filmmaker, and practitioner of Zen Buddhism. For him, the project is both personal and practical—a way to explore politics through mindful action.

Raised in Scotland's Christian tradition, Patrick drifted from religion until his late 30s, when he turned to Buddhist meditation and teachings as a spiritual base. He was already questioning conventional ideas about media and democracy, themes explored in his 2012 book Fraudcast News.

Inspired by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, Patrick joined the Order of Interbeing in 2023, committing to its Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings.

Making Peace With Politics reflects that path.

Follow his work on Substack.

Making Peace With Politics is built on a simple idea: better politics starts with us. We can’t wait for change—we have to create it ourselves, beginning in our own communities.

This isn’t just talk. These are practical skills anyone can learn, and peacemakers—who work in the harshest political conditions—are some of the best people to show us how.

Work Done So Far
  • Extensive research and development completed
  • Initial filming and interviews conducted
  • Strong support from early backers and partners
Current Needs
  • Financial support to continue production and post-production
  • Resources for distribution and impact campaigns
  • Partnerships to amplify our reach and message

We're creating a high-quality, full-length film for diverse global audiences. Next steps include:

  • More filming and editing, with short films released along the way

  • Building impact partnerships with peacemakers and their supporters

  • Hosting screenings and panels to spark discussion and engagement with the project and its protagonists

Alongside Making Peace With Politics, All Hands On is shifting to impact filmmaking—embedding our work in communities through local screenings and advocacy.

We aim to elevate voices often unheard, like Palestinian and Israeli peacemakers, and connect their stories to global movements for peace and justice.

Our plans include:

  • Creating custom online platforms for community-led distribution

  • Producing campaign tools like animations, trailers, and social content

  • Partnering with screening hosts, grassroots groups, and advocacy networks

Creating Making Peace With Politics is a challenging journey that’s only just starting. We’ll highlight here our filmmaking processes and partnerships, the challenges we encounter, and stories that emerge

Stay connected as we continue this journey—your support and engagement make all the difference!

Highlights

Meeting the peace makers: Stories of activists, policymakers, and everyday citizens navigating political change.

  • The pressures of peace making: From polarization to civic engagement, we dive into peace makers’ everydays.

  • Behind-the-Scenes Footage: Get some glimpses into the creative process, including on-location shoots and candid moments.

  • Video Interviews: watch conversations with experts and individuals shaping peacemakers’ political landscapes.