Improbable Pairs is a series of short film segments about pairs of people who have made peace with each other against truly extraordinary odds. Two segments have been filmed to date, each approximately eight minutes long. An accompanying discussion guide makes it easy to run a half hour appreciative process with the audience following the film.

The first film segment is about an Israeli father (Yitzhak Frankenthal) whose son was killed by Palestinians, and a Palestinian man (Dr. Jawad Tibi), four of whose brothers were killed by the Israeli military. Together they have formed the Parents Circle, a group of 280 Israeli families and 240 Palestinian families who have each lost a direct family member in the violence, who meet with each other and work together for peace.

The second segment is about a white South African Air Force officer (Neville Clarence) who was blinded in a car bombing during the apartheid regime, and the African National Congress Special Operations Officer (Aboobaker Rashid Ismail) who planned and ordered that specific attack.

Improbable Pairs has won awards from the following film festivals :

WorldFest Houston – Gold Remi Award in Documentary Shorts, May 2002
2002 Aurora Awards – Gold Award in Documentary/Cultural, September 2002
Chris Awards (Film Council of Greater Columbus) – Honorable Mention, October 2002
Tiburon Film Festival — Humanitarian Award, March 2003

It was also shown at the Wisconsin Film Festival (April); the UCI Human Rights Film Festival (May); the Empire State Film Festival (September); and the Ohio Independent Film Festival (November). In August of 2002, Improbable Pairs was broadcast over satellite television networks (Echostar and DirecTV), reaching an audience of some 17 million American households.

We know all too well what war looks like; but rarely do we see images of what peace looks like. In these short film pieces, we see people who, because of their history, might well have become implacable enemies; but are instead working together for peace. These images are powerful reminders that people can reach across even profound barriers to create new hope.

Improbable Pairs was filmed in San Francisco in the fall of 1999 by a volunteer crew of television professionals.

For further information or to order copies of the video and discussion guide, please contact:

Paul Andrews, Executive Producer
1550 Walnut Street
Berkeley, California 94709
Tel: 510-845-3471
EM: paulandrews@earthlink.net