Animal Rescue Short Film
Watch Now on YouTube

English | Spanish | French | Portuguese

Dear Friends,

In celebration of the birth of Mohandas Gandhi 144 years ago today, we are releasing a 16-minute mini-documentary titled All the Difference in the World for free viewing on YouTube in four languages. This short film is based on an extended scene from Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home. It follows Cayce Mell and Jason Tracy of OohMahNee Sanctuary as they embark on what would become one of the largest animal rescue efforts in US history following a tornado striking a huge industrial egg farm in Ohio. We hope watching it inspires your own efforts to work for positive change and motivates you to share this important message with the people in your life.

The story told by Jason and Cayce is timeless, and touches on a question that haunts those struggling for justice all over the world: With problems so huge and so overwhelming, how can our individual efforts mean anything or make a real difference against the enormity of the tragedy and injustice?

Cayce and Jason answer this question by their eloquent example. Rather than succumbing to despair, they rally a whole community of rescuers and do everything they can, knowing all the while that there will be countless individuals who cannot be saved. They carry in their hearts the full weight of all tragedies they are unable to prevent. But they also open themselves to the joy that comes from giving everything one has to give.

As Gandhi once famously said, "Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you do it." For those thousands of individual hens who were pulled from the wreckage and transported to safety at a sanctuary, the efforts of Cayce and Jason and many others made "all the difference in the world.” As the story of this rescue goes on to awaken compassion and a deeper sense of justice in others, it will hopefully inspire more people to choose to take action despite overwhelming odds.

This extended rescue scene was included in its entirety in earlier drafts of Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home, until it became clear in the final round of editing that it had to be radically edited down in order to work within the larger context the film. In the end, less than three minutes of this powerful material was included. While this was the right decision for Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home, it was painful to have to leave out so much of this rescue story that we loved, both philosophically and artistically. Our creative team especially appreciated the way the scene seamlessly blended dramatic visual storytelling with Kevin Bartlett’s haunting musical score. It captured in ways that defy words the complex interplay between the enormity of the disaster and the quiet struggle being waged inside each rescuer who was on the ground, grappling with the limits of their own emotions and capabilities.

Read "Gandhi and Chavez: Legacy of Justice for All" on PeaceableJourney

In his lifetime, Gandhi faced overwhelming odds, and unimaginable tragedies. He did everything he could at each stage of his journey, focusing more on being true to his principles than on achieving short-term outcomes. In the end, he proved that holding true to one's ideals is not impractical. In fact, for him, it was the very basis of inspiring millions of people to join an effort that dramatically changed the course of human history.

So let's celebrate Gandhi's birthday by appreciating the efforts of all those individuals who tell the truth, work with integrity, and intervene on behalf of the vulnerable beings of this world. Let their inspiring example give us hope and determination to become the change we wish to see in the world.

Your friends,
James and Jenny
Co-founders and Filmmakers

October Special Deals

The following discounts will be in place until midnight EST on Thurs, Oct. 31st

Peaceable Kingdom:
The Journey Home
Now on iTunes

We are happy to announce the availability of Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home on Apple iTunes. Now, you can rent ($2.99) or buy ($14.99) the film for online viewing in five languages: English, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese, in the following countries:

United States Canada Mexico Argentina Austria Belgium Brazil

Chile Costa Rica France Germany Panama Switzerland Venezuela

Much to our regret, the film will be unavailable on iTunes in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United Kingdom, due to new requirements in those countries that films have an official rating in order to be distributed through iTunes. As an alternative, take advantage of this month's special deals on DVDs, including a $5 discount on individual films, and free shipping on our half-priced 10 packs to anywhere in the world!

It takes a global village

We owe a debt of gratitude to the many individuals who donated their financial support, professional skills, technical knowledge, and linguistic artistry to making this iTunes release possible. As a grassroots organization with modest resources, Tribe of Heart achieves excellence largely through the passion, integrity and talents of our community members. You inspire us every day!

Here are just a few of the many people who made multilingual iTunes release possible:

Associate Producer Kevin Smith, who is currently doing a wonderful job coordinating our North American screenings program, and who helped facilitate the recent broadcast of Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home on Detroit Public Television, connected us with the company that served as our liaison to Apple iTunes.

Tribe of Heart's attorney, Trevor DeSane, negotiated our iTunes contract. Trevor is also doing outstanding work overseeing Tribe of Heart's numerous international translation and outreach projects.

Undertaking a film release in one language is a challenge unto itself. Add in the complexities created by four additional languages and the challenges can get overwhelming, especially when the subject matter requires philosophical precision as well as artistic presentation. Each of our film's translations were initially performed by a professional movie subtitling firm. Then, bilingual auditors familiar with animal rights philosophy reviewed each of thousands of subtitles to ensure the film's message had been translated faithfully. Our team of auditors, who generously donated their time, significantly elevated the quality of the final result.

Specifically, Kerstin Voigt and Thomas Winger helped us perfect the German translation. Thomas, who founded the Austrian-based animal advocacy group United Creatures, was responsible for the very first international version of a Tribe of Heart film, Der Zeuge, the German-language version of The Witness. Kerstin, who hails from East Berlin but now lives in the UK's Isle of Wight, first got to know us through organizing screenings of Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home. Kerstin is a dedicated wildlife rehabber who, with her family, helps many orphaned and injured birds recuperate before being released back into the wild.

Italia Millán and Adriana Cristina Hernández helped ensure our Spanish translation was top notch. We first got to know Italia through our mutual efforts to save wildlife from municipal mass-killing programs. In addition to her tireless advocacy efforts for both animals and the environment, Italia is a professional translator and a talented photographer. Adriana, also a translator by profession, donated her talents several years ago to the Spanish version of The Witness, called El Testigo, which is currently available for free online viewing. We are fortunate to have had her help, offered with such generosity and efficiency, on both of our film projects.

Jaclyn and Pierre Gidel, and Nicolas Serres Cousiné refined the French translation so it would be both accurate and poetic. Jaclyn is a professional vegan pastry chef who has introduced enthusiastic Parisians to cruelty-free desserts. She recently opened an artisan beer shop with her husband, Pierre. Nicolas is a life coach based in Manhattan whose specialty is helping people fully embrace their passion in life.

Simone de Lima and Louise Tezza made sure our Portuguese translation hit all the right notes. We first met Simone at a screening of our film at the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital. She later returned to Brazil and opened Brasilia's first ever vegan café. Simone has also worked on animal advocacy for many years through her organization, ProAnimal. We met Louise through her work at Brazil's MostraAnimal film festival, which is devoted to showing films that explore the human-animal relationship. Last year the festival awarded Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home its top award, the Oscow, and later this year it will be screening the new Portuguese version of The Witness.

Last but not least, we are grateful to Tribe of Heart's board members for their encouragement and support throughout this long, seemingly endless process. Pam Page made a special effort in several different ways to help get us across the finish line -- including recruiting Jaclyn and Pierre (her daughter and son-in-law) to help with the French version of the film.

These are just some of the people who made this release possible. Looking at the multilingual versions of the film posters above brings us great joy, as they capture in a glance the beauty created when people join together in service of the cause of justice. Without our community, none of this would have been possible!

Share the message of compassion

Has one of our films made a positive impact on your life? Keep the ripples of change moving by letting the people in your network know about the iTunes release of Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home, and about the YouTube release of All the Difference in the World. You can also receive additional updates by "Liking" our Facebook page, where you will be amongst the first to receive breaking news.

Coming up in our next newsletter... an exciting update about the amazing work that international translators and activists are doing with The Witness. Be prepared to be inspired!