Two years. Two Student Academy Awards. For aspiring filmmakers wondering how to get noticed, how about noticing the suffering of others? Friends of mine have won the gold medal at the Student Academy Awards by focusing their camera upon the plight of those on the margins of society. Their compelling films are not a calculated stunt to win prizes but a heartfelt conviction that we must care for the poor, the hungry, and the hurting.

American University student Laura Waters Hinson won best documentary in 2008 for AS WE FORGIVE, a moving portrait of reconciliation in Rwanda. It highlights both the harrowing genocide and the profound healing that has come to a fractured country. To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan horrors, As We Forgive will be screening on PBS stations around the country, including PBS WORLD on July 15th. Check the PBS schedule for stations and times near you.  In the meantime, you can join the Living Bricks campaign, designed to rebuild houses for the victims’ families. Murderers and survivors live alongside each other in a stirring example of forgiveness in action.