Story

The film opens as the buses roll into camp, bringing kids from around the world together for an unimaginable experience. For the first time, Israelis shake hands with Palestinians, Indians sit next to Pakistanis and Afghans are greeted by Americans. The tension and trepidation is palpable.


As the bell rings at 7 AM on a clear and unfamiliar morning, the camp gathers around the fire pit for the first morning line-up with Tim, the camp director. Tim tells it like it is. They are here to get to know each other, talk to each other, listen to each other and respect each other—to use this unique opportunity to open their minds and build the future they want to live.


Bit by bit, it begins to happen: a shared interest in cricket, or a common displeasure for camp food. Slowly, a smile creeps across the face of someone who is supposed to hate and the process has begun.


Coexistence is tough. Trust is built, then broken. Listening to the pain of the other side is hard—trusting enough to share your own fear, harder. Disillusion and despair one day, joy and hope the next. These kids are working hard to push out their boundaries and open themselves to this opportunity.


With conflicts back home more heightened than ever, it's proving difficult for the kids to really come together. As camp approaches the end of the second week, they just aren't going as deep as they are supposed to. Tensions boil over and the camp feels distanced. Something is missing. Perhaps when John Wallach, the founder of Seeds of Peace, feels well enough to visit camp, things will fall into place.


Finally it is Color Games, each team a carefully chosen cross section of delegates. This is everyone's favorite part of camp. However, at the end of the first day, the unthinkable happens. John Wallach, the visionary behind the camp, has passed away. Fighting back his own tears, Tim gathers the new campers and tells them the news. This could de-rail everything. John was Seeds of Peace.


In the silence of shock, a quiet young girl walks to the front of the fire pit. Fighting back tears for someone she never knew, she urges her peers to come together and break down the barriers that still keep them apart. The rest of the camp gathers at the fire pit to see what is happening. The first year campers are leading the call to make this session count, and they want to do it in the memory of John. Suddenly, everything feels different. They will not let him down.