“Pain and Peace” Documentary Debuts in Buffalo 5/14

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo community will come together May 14 to mark the second anniversary of the deadly shooting at Tops on Jefferson Avenue.

That’s the same day that “Pain and Peace,” a feature-length documentary exploring hatred and forgiveness, will debut here.

A survivor of a post-9/11 hate crime co-produced it and wanted to involve those affected by the Tops tragedy in the project.

Rais Bhuiyan traveled over 17,000 miles across North America to make this film. He is a survivor of a hate crime committed after 9/11, which inspired him to explore hatred and forgiveness through the lens of hate crimes committed in the United States and Canada.

This includes the 5/14 shooting.

For the film, Bhuiyan spoke with Garnell Whitfield, Jr., whose mother Ruth was killed in the shooting, and Dr. LaVonne Ansari of the Buffalo Community Health Center. He also spoke with survivors of other mass shootings and people who belonged to hate groups.

Bhuiyan says he was inspired to make this film because he knows what it’s like to wake up every day with the wounds of hatred.

“Seeing the rise of extremism and hate-fueled violence against Asian Americans, Black people, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, LGBTQ and others, I wanted to know more about this that makes people hate others and where does the visceral violence fueled by hatred come from and can we find peace and forgiveness? Can we go through a healing process? embark on a journey to better understand the healing process of others,” said Rais Bhuiyan, co-producer of “Pain and Peace.”

Bhuiyan is also the founder of the nonprofit World Without Hate, which takes him all over the world to share his story and talk about the power of forgiveness.

The screening of “Pain and Peace” will take place Tuesday at the North Park Theater at 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 6 a.m. It’s free, but you need to make a reservation to know how many people to expect.