Working with the 13 inspiring Nobel Peace Laureates who make up PeaceJam's board, the PeaceJam Foundation is developing a series of films highlighting the cutting edge work being done by these Laureates as they fight to create a better future for all humanity. In this, their latest film, they're telling the story of 1980 Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel. Esquivel, whose work runs parallel to the last 80 years of Latin America, is seen from his birth in Argentina to an indigenous mother and immigrant father to his courageous work exposing the "dirty wars" of military dictatorships across multiple countries in Latin America.

The film doesn't shy away from Esquivel's time as a "disappeared" political prisoner who was tortured, but writer/director Dawn Gifford Engle does an admirable job of balancing more difficult material with informative and moving archival footage, deeply personal insights, and remarkable actions that ultimately led to remarkable hope.

Rivers of Hope contains never before seen interview footage along with family photos and remarkably extensive archival footage. While the Nobel Legacy Film Series may contain names that are more familiar, at least to Americans, it's hard not to have your breath taken away watching Esquivel's remarkable 80 years of life unfold. Adolfo became known as the conscience of Latin America and as a powerful voice for the dispossessed.

If you are aware of the current growing sense of hope in Latin America, then you also must know of the important role Esquivel has played in that hope throughout his life. Rivers of Hope brings past and present vividly to life while connecting the dots to a promising and far more hope-filled future.

Adolfo Perez Esquivel: Rivers of Hope had its premiere at the Monaco TV Film Festival and is now in the midst of a three-month exclusive engagement with Google Play before being released worldwide.

If you've ever found yourself curious about or inspired by the stories of Nobel Peace Prize winners, the Nobel Legacy Film Series is for you and this story will inform, inspire and even motivate you as it shows the power of one person to create hope in the world.

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic