‘Pray the Devil Back to Hell’ film to be shown

Thu Sep 10 2009

Lenoir-Rhyne University will be the site of a free screening of the film “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 29 in the Belk Centrum on campus.

This documentary tells the remarkable story of the courageous Liberian women who came together to end their bloody civil war and to bring peace to their shattered country. This event is made possible by the North Carolina chapter of the UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women) USA National Committee. It is presented in collaboration with the Voices Film Series, co-sponsored by Lenoir-Rhyne University and the Women’s Resource Center of Hickory.

“Pray the Devil Back to Hell” is the story of a small band of Liberian women who came together in the midst of a bloody civil war, took on the violent warlords and corrupt Charles Taylor regime, and won a long-awaited peace for their shattered country in 2003.

As the rebel noose tightened upon Monrovia, and peace talks faced collapse, the women of Liberia — Christian and Muslims united — formed a thin but unshakable white line between the opposing forces, and successfully demanded an end to the fighting, armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions.

In one remarkable scene, the women barricaded the site of stalled peace talks in Ghana, and announced they would not move until a deal was done.  Faced with eviction, they invoked the most powerful weapon in their arsenal – threatening to remove their clothes. It worked.

Their demonstrations culminated in the exile of Charles Taylor and the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female head of state, and marked the vanguard of a new wave of women taking control of their political destiny around the world.

“Pray the Devil Back to Hell” reconstructs the moment through interviews, archival footage and striking images of contemporary Liberia.

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