Jeremy Gilley
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Jeremy Gilley is a British actor turned film-maker and founder of the non-profit organization, Peace One Day.
Born in 1969, Gilley spent his early years in Southampton, England. Suffering from dyslexia, he was determined to make his mark and enrolled in acting classes and joined Royal Shakespeare Company at the age of 17. Following a decade of professional acting, Gilley started P.U.R.E. Productions in 1994 to make his own films.
Disturbed by the images of violence and destruction in every day life, Gilley began to ponder questions such as, “Is humankind fundamentally evil?” He had read that the media has a duty to initiate positive change, and felt a desire to use his skills as a film-maker in such a way. Then, at the Womad music festival in 1998, Gilley had an idea: What if there was one day when the world stopped fighting? A worldwide ceasefire – a non-violence day? A Peace Day? He decided to find out if that was possible, and to document his efforts along the way. He was aware that if he failed, it would at the very least make an interesting film, showing a world unwilling to change.
In 1998, Gilley began to make the Peace One Day documentary. He spoke to students, peace negotiators, NGOs, government representatives, heads of state, United Nations’ officials, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, Secretary General of the League of Arab States Amre Moussa, Nobel Peace Laureate Shimon Peres, former Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Laureate Oscar Arias Sanchez, Nelson Mandela and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Through all of his talks and meetings, Gilley realized that the best way to achieve an annual Peace Day was to obtain a UN resolution.
With help from family and friends, he was able send thousands of letters, make hundreds of phone calls and travel the equivalent of 7 times around the world. In 2001, Jeremy achieved his goal: a UN GA resolution (A/Res/55/282), put forward by the UK and Costa Rican Governments, was unanimously adopted to establish the first ever day of global ceasefire and non-violence fixed in the calendar as 21st September annually.
Through an introduction to Dave Stewart in 2002, Jeremy managed to gather a diverse mix of UK celebrities including Annie Lennox, Jimmy Cliff, Faithless, Neneh Cherry, One Giant Leap, Zero 7, Badly Drawn Boy, Joseph Fiennes, Sir Richard Branson and the late Mo Mowlam to join him in promoting Peace Day. With the help of friends and family, Gilley managed to pull off two concerts at Brixton Academy, London, on 21st September 2002 and 2003.
In 2004, the Peace One Day documentary premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival, then the BBC aired the documentary in September of the same year. On the other side of the Atlantic in 2005, Angelina Jolie and Jonny Lee Miller hosted the North American Film Premiere to highlight Peace Day.
Lyn Kosky, Australia’s Education minister, encouraged Jeremy to create a resource for young people. Jeremy thought of the children he had met and how much they had encouraged him with their enthusiasm for a day of peace. In May 2006, the Peace One Day Citizenship Resource Pack was launched after conversations with over 30,000 young people and teachers from every continent in the world. Jeremy wanted to create a resource for use in UK secondary schools with its core message from Kofi Annan’s words to Jeremy, "Individuals can make a difference, and collectively we can make a major contribution”. In 2007, a second edition of the Citizenship Resource Pack has been sponsored by Ecover, so that every secondary school in the UK can receive a free copy.
Currently, Gilley is in filming and production of a second documentary, in association with the BBC. The central focus of this film is to document the first ever life-saving activity on the day; something that will highlight the very practical opportunities and benefits that the day offers to individuals. The film will also document the process of getting the message of Peace Day to every human being on the planet. The film will premier at the Cannes Film Festival.[1]
