Luther’s CEPE to show documentary and discuss peacemaking dialogue Sept. 12

Focusing on the conflict in Kosovo and the interactions between Albanians and Serbs following the NATO bombing in 1999, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Steinar Bryn from the Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue in Norway will show his film “Reunion” and host a discussion on peacemaking at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12, in Olin Building Room 102 on the Luther College campus.

The event, sponsored by the Center for Ethics and Public Engagement, the Dean’s office and the Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue, is open to the public with no charge for admission.

“Reunion” is a documentary follow-up featuring a dialogue seminar between Albanians and Serbs from Kosovo in 2010. The original conversation took place in 1999 and was made into the film “Before the Bombs.” When NATO bombed Kosovo in 1999, conversations between the Albanians and Serbs stopped. During that 10-year hiatus between filming, the country went through many changes, including going from being Serb-dominated to an Albanian-dominated independent state.

Participants from the first seminar reconvened for the 10-year anniversary of the bombing to discuss how life had changed. Bryn filmed the discussion and premiered it in spring 2011. It won an Amanda, the Norwegian Oscar, for best documentary in fall 2011.

Bryn is a senior advisor at the Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue. He earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from the University of Wisconsin and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Ph.D. in American studies. For the past 17 years, he has developed and supported the Nansen dialogue centers in the Balkans. He travels worldwide giving lectures and facilitating seminars in inter-ethic relations. Along with the Nansen Dialog Network, Bryn was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize from 2009 through 2014.

A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,000, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college’s website: http://www.luther.edu.