The meeting took place as part of the "United World Week” in Buenos Aires, a global initiative, organized by the young people of the Focolare Movement.
The promoter of the activity was the Dialogue Group of Buenos Aires, which brings together people of different beliefs, both believers and agnostics, with the participation of the Laudato Si' Movement of Argentina. About thirty participants.
The meeting opened by explaining the reasons for United World Week, and the involvement of many young people from all over the world during the first week of May, with moments of global online connection.
Then the spirit that animates the activities of the Dialogue, present in the region since 1997, was briefly presented. Likewise, an overview of the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si' was given, to contextualize the participants to the concept of integral ecology, closely linked to the material to be to project.
To enter into the context of the documentary genre and the director, a historical journey was carried out. The speaker highlighted a small pearl, given that in 1922 the first documentary in the history of cinema was shown. We don't know if it was a coincidence, but the release date of "The Letter" was October 4, 2022, celebrating a century of the documentary genre. The description of the strategies used in the filming was important to take another look and make better use of some scenes of the film.
Exchanges with different opinions followed. It was appreciated that the people invited by Pope Francis as Voci to participate in the filming were not of Christian religion.
The need for greater commitment to concrete actions was assessed and the need for educational policies that encourage the diffusion of experiences like these was discussed.
Regarding the current environmental damage, the opinions expressed were very different, some even bordering on not believing that they are real.
The respect with which we usually carry out these dialogue meetings, which we organize in the form of Cinema-Debates, has helped to ensure that the different opinions are respected. Everyone agreed that it wasn't just another "environmental" film and that it managed to transport you into the bond between nature and man, between brotherhood and hope.
Finally we created a 'cloud' thanks to the "Mentimeter" program. The proposal was:
“We ask you to share 3 words that represent important concepts that struck you after this debate on cinema”.
The words emerged most forcefully: Fraternity, Hope, Conscience, Urgency, Unity and Commitment. There was no lack of a moment of knowledge and search for spaces for fraternal dialogue.
