Documentary has Sisters connection

William Stafford was an ardent pacifist and he stood by his convictions, becoming a conscientious objector during World War II.

The film "Every War Has Two Losers" explores Stafford's thoughts on peace and a nonviolent approach to life, and explores the role of the individual in the face of the moral crisis of war.

Stafford, who was named Oregon's Poet Laureate in 1975, was the father of noted Sisters artist and educator Kit Stafford.

"I just showed it to my two classes," Stafford said. "We're studying protest songs and poetry in Americana (the Americana Project class at Sisters Middle School)."

The film raises provocative questions. Faced with the common argument that war is inevitable, William Stafford argued instead that war is a human choice - and only one choice among many for ways nations and peoples can resolve their conflicts.

"It's powerful, I think," Kit Stafford said. "It's really about his stand against war and being a conscientious objector and what he could do as one person. There are all kinds of wonderful questions that are being asked in the film."

The questions raised are what makes the film a powerful teaching tool, Kit says. She said her students were left with the opportunity to frame their own thoughts and questions on the question of war, which has bedeviled mankind since the beginning of time.

"They have pretty good words in their heads," she said. "Not accusatory words. Questioning words."

Filmmaker Haydn Reiss has long been a friend of the family and Kit said he captured her father's outlook accurately.

"It's just really familiar, seeing him write every day," she said.

For Kit, the most powerful image from the film is in a scene where soldiers are pulling a family from their home at gunpoint. The look of terror on the face of a little girl is wrenching.

"The pictures with the words really brings it home," she said.

"Every War Has Two Losers" screens at Sisters Movie House on Sunday, October 10, at 7:30 p.m. For more information visit http://www.bendfilm.org.