Peace does not need doves. It needs men and women of goodwill.

For over ten years, Lizette Vila has dedicated herself to working for peace and respect for diversity in society. In Havana, she created a project called Proyecto Palomas (Project Doves) with the goal to bring about changes in people's life styles and promote respect for human diversity, in order to encourage a culture of peace.

Lizette Vila was born in El Cerro, a poor neighborhood of Havana, within a family that supported her artistic education. She studied and became a musical adviser. She makes documentaries, films, television shows and videos. In her audiovisual work, she addresses themes linked to marginality, to discrimination and human suffering in all its forms. She has amassed a vast professional experience and has been awarded more than 50 prizes in her own country and abroad. She has directed numerous documentaries of a humanistic character and others to promote preventative health measures. Lizette comments on her vocation as follows: “The motivation for my work comes from the emotions created in me by human suffering, by marginality, economic difficulties and the many different forms of violence and inequality in society that have allowed me to, day by day, accumulate experiences that have shaped my approach towards life.” Lizette is the creator of the Proyecto Palomas (a non-profit social and cultural organization) with the goal to bring about changes in people's life styles and promote respect for human diversity, in order to encourage a culture of peace. The project generates cultural meetings known as peace encounters, where people can interact and interchange ideas and feelings that will help to promote the harmony, which will lead to sustainable human development. This Cuban documentary maker has managed to combine her particular sensitivity to human suffering with a rich artistic background, putting both into the service of people who are very vulnerable in our society: children, adolescents and young people suffering from cancer, genetic diseases and physical or mental disabilities, women and transvestites with HIV or Aids, elderly people and women who are alcoholics or obese.

Proyecto Palomas