Description
Object description
A film celebrating the contribution of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in protecting 600 million lives in fifteen countries. This is done by focusing on the lives of five people and their families across Europe, both military and civilian, acting as representatives of many others who, while coming from very different backgrounds and countries, share a common commitment to the NATO alliance.
Content description
Gaetano Gallinaro is in the Italian Navy. Gaetano and his wife talk about a military life and raising a family. His mother talks about her experiences during the Second World War and her hope for peace in the western world. Gaetano's father speaks positively about the benefits of freedom and democracy.
Sylvia Antoni is German, and teaches the language to children of US Army personnel stationed in Germany, as part of NATO. Her mother gives her memories of the end of the war and its hardships. Sylvia's life experiences are used as constrast. We also meet Sylvia's brother, who is a photographer, living in Berlin; he is shown photographing East Germany across the Berlin Wall.
Niels Eduard Busch lives in Copenhagen and is a scientist at the Risø National Laboratory; his wife is a teacher. Niels provides a brief introduction to his work and testifies to his admiration of his wife. She offers her thoughts on the value of freedom and democracy. Niels also speaks about the benefits to scientific research that result from the NATO alliance.
Joan Link is British and works for the Arms Control and Disarmament department of the United Kingdom's Foreign Office. Representing the UK at a conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, she talks of her pleasure in working toward international co-operation. She talks about her early life in Derby and her love of the Peak District. Joan describes her disappointment that, due to the lack of equality, she knows her child will grow up with advantages that other children will not.
Lieutenant Commander James Bowen is a pilot in the US Navy's Fighter Squadron 101 (shown flying in a F-14 Tomcat aircraft). James talkes of his early life in Blythe, California. James his wife, Naomi, and three children, are shown playing outside. Naomi speaks about the positive example James sets their children. James, who works as an instructor, speaks of his pleasure at flying in the Replacement Air Group (RAG). He notes that NATO will provide the means of defence to enable everyone to have a chance at realising their potential.
The film ends with the narrator noting that, despite the differences amongst the film's subjects, their backgrounds and current roles - they share a "common commitment" of building their lives under a peace made possible by NATO.
Physical description
16mm