Congratulations on crafting such a beautifully powerful film. Can you talk us through the early beginnings of the concept – what first inspired it?
It took me seven years to make Beyond Right & Wrong. I was in Rwanda and I saw people whose children or parents had been murdered, and they were talking to the people who had murdered them – and I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. I was thinking, ‘Is this possible? Is what I’m seeing real?’ So the film in an enquiry into that.

The film is based on three true stories. What do you think the experience was like for those who shared their stories of hardship and healing?
I think for some of them who had never told their story, it was a big deal to break their silence. It helped them to move on.

You must have formed strong bonds with these survivors?
Yes, it’s just amazing to know that some people exist in the world – and the depth of their pain and the depth of what they’ve overcome was incredible.

The film focuses on choosing forgiveness rather than revenge or anger, but what do you believe is worth fighting for?
I think there is a place for fighting for justice and a place for anger. The film isn’t prescriptive, it doesn’t say, ‘You must forgive’ or anything like that. It’s the story of these people who have forgiven, but it’s that tension between fighting for justice and moving on with forgiveness – and one is not separate from the other. If, for example, Martin Luther King hadn’t fought for justice, we wouldn’t have the civil rights movement. So there is a place for that that. But I focused on the healing, rather than the horror.

What do you hope your audience will take away from the film?
I want to start the conversation in everybody’s heart as to what they need to do now in life – I think peace will come about in the world only if people know that forgiveness is possible, that people can move on. I want to open that conversation. 

What’s the response been like so far?
It’s been amazing. There was a lady who was in the Holocaust who had never spoken about her experience before, but after seeing the film she opened up about it. Many people have been telling me things like, ‘I haven’t spoken to my mother or father for 15 years, but now I’m starting the process.’ Very, very powerful transformations are happening from this film – it’s been used in all sorts of ways.

You’re currently touring the film around Australia, what’s the feedback been like here?
In Australia, the response has been phenomenal. I feel like there was a hunger for it. I’ve had the most amazing responses, people have been writing to the team, and so I’ve decided I’m coming back in March. I’ll bring some of the people who are in the film, and we hope to do a tour and try to screen the film on TV.

Beyond Right & Wrong was your directorial debut. What were your biggest challenges?
I think the toughest challenge was in the middle of the film when I was like, ‘What am I doing? Do I really want to do this – leaving my children behind in the United States and wandering to different places, talking to people who have murdered people.’ It got really difficult, but we continued.

The film is available to watch for free online via FilmRaise, why did you choose that path?
Well I didn’t want it to be shown just for a month somewhere and then it’s gone; I think this film will be relevant ten years from now. My ultimate goal is to go around the world talking about it and have it seen by as many people as possible, and then I want it to rest at a university where kids can learn from it and it can form a peace centre where people can study things like this – that’s my dream for the film.

You’re also a fine-art photographer, is this also driven by your passion to explore the human condition?
Yes, in a way. I’m always photographing marginalised people. I think my photography exploration is more about things that aren’t perfect, things that disappear, things that people don’t care about, things that are extremely beautiful but are not regarded in that way – I try to show that beauty in my photographs.

What were you like as a child, did you always harbour this intense curiosity?
Oh I was horrible! I gave my parents a hard time I think, especially in the teenage years. I was quite rebellious. But yes I was extremely curious about everything and I spent a lot of time indoors reading. Philosophy, art, writing and literature was where I lived most of my childhood.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learnt as you’ve become an adult?
One of the lessons I learnt when making the film was not to be so hard on myself. Self-forgiveness is extremely hard. I expected a lot, so one of the lessons for me to is to have a little for compassion for myself. I learnt that you can’t be a perfectionist about how you live your life.

What do you hope to achieve in your career over the long term?
I guess if I have one wish it’s that I would be fully expressed, so that I can help other people and help myself.