Richard, I guess you could say, is the classic English born, Aussie lariken. Life has dished him up as many ups and downs as one could probably manage in a lifetime. But as a surfer, he loved the sea and the spirit of the land and the freedom that life in Australia gave him. He’s done the traps, played first grade footy, trained olympic skiers in Switzerland, trained race horses, drunk with the best and the worst of them and had more than his fare share of scrapes and close shaves.

Looking back he realises that something has been knawing at him for a long time with signposts shining through the haze at odd junctions. One of those times started out as way to make money by recycling stable waste – they crowned him the King of Poo – and his larger than life personality fitted the bill.

A few penny’s dropped into place as he scratched around the perimeter of ‘sustainability’ by pioneering the use of worms as organic waste recyclers through press interviews and a roadshow he took into schools to introduce kids to the little wizards in the garden.

I guess it was this experience with the press and a bit of acting he did in his youth that made him think it may not be too hard to make a film. He always thought he knew everything once he tried it once and if some of those guys he met in the press could do it, well, so could he!

In 2003, no different from most people, we were preoccupied with our children, our financial worries and the day to days of just managing life. But when Richard heard what the pollies were saying in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq, he sat bolt upright – his political apathy had been seriously disturbed. He had a bad feeling which he felt compelled to do something about.

He woke up… to the world.

He said he wanted to film the peace march on 16/2/2003. The organisers of the march invited us to also film a public lecture on “The Death of Investigative Journalism’ that Chris Masters and Roy Knightly were presenting two days in advance of the march.

Well, that sealed the deal – Richard now felt he had an absolute licence to go ask his own questions and film it because journalism, he was told, was suffering from a severe case of rigor mortus and may not rise again from the dead.

So we picked up camera’s and ran – first, filming the march in Sydney that saw 450,000 more people than the 50,000 expected by the organisers - a pattern to be repeated in capital cities right across the globe!

Next, we started asking our own questions, doing more than 35 interviews with diverse voices for peace from around the world. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into - or that it would consume four years of our life - financially, mentally and emotionally - to see it through.

While Richard was the ‘front man’ on an initial quest to get the ‘bastards out there’, I (Wendy) knew that the quest he was really on would take him through the high mountain passes and deep ravines of his own heart. The film was a gift for that ‘journey of the heart’ that we’ve taken together.

I have a background in health and medicine, have worked with death and the dying, was a homebirth attendant lobbying for better birthing option for families in hospital as well as home (creating a birthing support training program that blossomed into the international ‘doolah’ movement) and facilitated core process and conflict resolution programs in Australia and overseas. I, too, had my fair share of personal ups and downs.

I longed to share my life with someone who shared my commitment to honesty, connection, compassion and healing. It took a long time to find him yet nothing could have prepared me for the life that Richard and I have together. Between us we have six children in various stages of growing us up!

Of course, someone had to actually make the film and that part was largely left up to me to work out how to do. A quest full of struggles of its own! At moments where it felt like it would never happen, Richard would find people who could give that little bit of much needed encouragement and technical advice to keep going.

Over those years and meeting all the people we interviewed for the film from all around the world has been amazing. Each interview went for at least an hour and it was really hard to choose what not to use out of so much strong and significant material.

As well, we had David Gulpilil and his wife Miriam live with us for six weeks - an experience that challenged each one of us to greater levels of understanding about the issues that keep us separated from and in denial of our indigenous heritage.

And we could not have made the film without our children (who considered us to be more than a bit eccentric in our decision to make the film in the first place) and who weren’t so sure that we’d ever actually get to the end of it!

Together, we forged new levels of understanding and respect for one another and for the millions of people around the world who continue to suffer in conflicts over which they have no direct control.

It’s up to people, like ourselves, in lucky countries like Australia, to make the stand and work together to make the world a better and fairer place for all.