Abigail E. Disney (President & Producer, Fork Films) is a filmmaker and philanthropist. Her longtime passion for women’s issues and peacebuilding culminated in her first film, the acclaimed Pray the Devil Back to Hell, about the Liberian women who peacefully ended their country’s fourteen-year civil war. She is currently Executive Producer of the groundbreaking PBS mini-series Women, War & Peace, the most comprehensive global media initiative ever mounted on the role of women in peace and conflict.
Along with her husband, Pierre Hauser, Abigail co-founded the Daphne Foundation, which works with low-income communities in the five boroughs of New York City. Her work in philanthropy, women’s engagement and leadership, and conflict resolution has been recognized through the Epic Award from the White House Project, the Changing the Landscape for Women Award from the Center for the Advancement of Women, and the prestigious International Advocate for Peace (IAP) Award from the Cardozo Law School’s Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution. In addition, Abigail holds degrees from Yale, Stanford, and Columbia. She lives in New York City with her husband and four children.
About the films
Women, War & Peace is a five-part special series exploring women’s strategic role in conflict and peacebuilding. With narrators Matt Damon, Geena Davis, Tilda Swinton and Alfre Woodard, the paradigm-shifting series spotlights the stories of women in volatile conflict zones from Bosnia to Afghanistan, and Colombia to Liberia.
The series received a wonderful response from the media and from viewers who are interested in the growing international discussion about the role of women in conflict, justice and peacebuilding — a discussion that promises to have a significant impact on lives around the world.
The films are now part of a worldwide global outreach campaign to increase awareness of women’s activism in wartime, heighten people’s sensitivity to the impact of war on women and provide inspiration to become involved by taking action and fostering awareness within their communities.
All five episodes of Women, War & Peace will be shown and discussed in advance of Ms. Disney’s visit. The schedule is as follows:
- Thursday, September 27, 12:00pm: I Came To Testify (Hampton Room)
- Thursday, September 27, 7:00pm: Peace Unveiled (Balch Auditorium)
- Monday, October 1, 12:00pm: Pray The Devil Back To Hell (Hampton Room)
- Monday, October 1, 7:00pm: The War We Are Living (Balch Auditorium)
- Tuesday, October 2, 12:00pm: War Redefined (Hampton Room)
This event is made possible by the generosity of the Katharine Howard Miller Endowed Speaker Fund.