第二届国际和平节（The second International Peace Festival）多伦多举办
（《国际艺术新闻网》记者王蕾多伦多报道）2020年9月18日至20日，由国际和平节组委会组办的第二届国际和平节（The second International Peace Festival）在多伦多 585 Dundas Street East 举办。多伦多主流名人及各界艺术家40多人出席了开幕式。
第二届国际和平节的前身是国际和平电影节（International Film for Peace Festival），2018年由《多伦多湖滨杂志》（Toronto Waterfront Magazine）倡导启动，宣布所有电影业届或热爱电影的人士皆可提交与和平主題相关之短片参加活动。第一届国际和平电影节于2019年9月21日“国际和平日”在多伦多 Artscape艺术馆举办，汇集了50个国家超过1100部经典影片及艺术作品。
由于去年国际和平电影节获得了广泛的关注与反响，今年世界各地150名艺术家以更多不同艺术形式参与促进反暴力行为，呼吁和平，故第二届国际和平电影节改名为国际和平节。今年的活动现场除了由 Caruso Films 组办的电影部分之外，还增加了由Haimat Angela Kim 组办的艺术部分，Tina 女士组织的静坐冥想活动以及Ideal Me 线上讲座等。
音乐活动部分由加拿大华人艺术家Elsa Hsieh 创办的魅力视射音乐组办。和平节期间现场及三场线上音乐会带来了演奏家、音乐人士的原创视频；不同年龄、不同族裔的专业艺术家及业余艺术爱好者将自己以和平为主题的各类艺术形式融入到活动之中。在9月18日周五晚上的开幕式上，线上国际达人网上音乐会在Elsa Hsieh 以圆舞曲华丽风格作曲、二重唱组合华人歌手Nash Xu 与Jason Peng 演唱的《PEACE FOR ALL 》主题曲歌声中拉开序幕。周六晚上7点至10点又在线上精彩呈现一场高水准国际专业演奏家网上音乐会。 Victor Tang 担任片尾作曲及制作总监， Leo He任音乐会剪辑；华人儿童合唱团俨然人们眼中的和平小天使。
国际和平节以电影、艺术表演、美术展览及其它艺术形式，分线上线下同时进行。在保持社交距离的前提下，艺术家们纷纷登台表演、发言、面对面交流，现场回答提问及互动。现场播放了30部首选经典影片并为11部获奖影片进行了颁奖。活动中穿插的美食、讲座与文化交流环节也引起了各个社团的关注。
来自美国、加拿大、法国、俄罗斯、英国、印度等 50 个国家11个领域近400 部以呼吁和平为体裁的影片，展示了目前所有年龄层、种族间的霸凌现象所导致的心理健康、社交孤立、贫穷隐患及群体歧视等一连串社会问题。组委会希望籍此和平节，呼吁世界各国人民如We Are One Activist Group选送的视频歌曲《We Are One》所唱响的一样，在大同的世界里团结一致，共克时坚，和平共处。
Music For Peace Festival
A Headliner For International Film For Peace Festival Launched September 18, 2020 To Wide Acclaim.
The second International Film for Peace Festival was launched on September 18, 2020 in Toronto, Canada. The opening ceremonies showcased filmmakers, musicians and artists from all walks of life, live-streamed via the Internet.
Hosted by Toronto Waterfront Magazine, the festival was a resounding success, and included measures taken to ameliorate the impact of COVID-19.
“Required health strictures including social distancing were observed by attendees,” said festival founder, Karim Mirshahi, who is also Publisher of Toronto Waterfront Magazine.
Celebrities gave performances, held panel discussions and answered questions for the benefit of the audience, regarding the film, musical and art components of the program. The festival was held over a period of three days, and its musical component was an integral part of the proceedings.
The overall theme of the festival was promoting peace around the world.
“We wanted to ensure that international peace was the touchstone for everything we did,” said Musical Director, Elsa Hsieh. One of the highlights of a diverse program included the theme song ‘Peace For All’, composed by Ms. Hsieh, with lyrics by writing team, Ross & Virginia Munroe.
Conceived in the ornate style of a waltz, the song was performed by the illustrious duo, Nash Xu and Jason Peng.
The multifaceted concert was organized by Glamour Video Music, and the charming Chinese Children’s Choir became eye-catching symbols as Angels of Peace.
Artistic contributions were also made by Victor Tang for the end of the composition and Production Director Leo He for the night concert editing, so that the audio-visual effect of the online concert rose to the highest standard.
Overall, the musical component of the festival was deeply moving for the audience, sometimes bringing tears to the eye as people imagined how peace could help to heal the world.
Films For Peace were the foundation of the festival.
In addition to the musical program, over 400 films from around the world were reviewed, and the featured selections were shown, all competing for a prestigious International Film For Peace Festival Award. “Emphasis for the films was placed on serious social problems caused by mental health problems, social isolation, poverty and discrimination affecting all ages, genders and races,” said Executive Director, Frank Caruso.
Christmas 2020 is the official launch date of ‘Peace For All’.According to Hsieh, the song ‘Peace For All’ was previewed at the 2020 International Film For Peace Festival as a precursor to its Official Launch on Christmas Day to audiences around the world, both in person and over the Internet.
“Our greatest hope is that this initiative will inspire people everywhere to work together for peace and goodwill toward all.”
（English by Ross Munroe）
