Screening of Documentaries Produced Under �My First Shot� Programme

CIVIL

20 April 2006

�Civil� NGO will screen four documentary films, under the joint title �My First Shot�, on the language and culture of arms, filmed by children and youth from Skopje and Tetovo. The screening will be held tonight (April 20, Thursday), at the Children Theatre Centre in Skopje�s Old Bazaar. The screening starts at 19:30 hours.

My First Shot (with its two meanings) is the common title of the four documentary films filmed earlier this month by children and youth from Skopje and Tetovo, under the auspices of the Video workshop for training and education on the risks presented by small arms. The films were produced under the leadership and guidance of Sandia Sury, prominent U.K. filmmaker, in the organization by Civil and the Bonn International Conversion Centre (BICC).

The first screening will take place on April 20 (Thursday), at the Children Theatre Centre (the former �Napredok� cinema), at 19:30 hours. Representatives of Civil and BICC will address the audience, together with Alain Lapon, UNDP Project Manager of Partnership for Community Safety and Security.

The films are personal stories about weapons that have affected their lives and the lives of their relatives. The documentaries are a touching warning about the dreadful impact of weapons in our society. Children and youth from different schools from Skopje and Tetovo, of diverse ethnic and religious background, boys and girls, worked on the films together, without any prejudice. Their unity and teamwork may be a useful lesson for the adults about the proper way to work on common problems that have no ethnic or religious background.

This event is a contribution to the International Action Week Against Small Arms, organized by the International Action Network Against Small Arms (www.iansa.org), as well as the activities of SEE Network on Control of Arms (www.seenca.org). CIVIL takes this opportunity to once more remind that WEAPONS are designed to KILL! Therefore, Say NO to WEAPONS! is the slogan that we constantly promote within our programming activities.