The Seeds of Peace
A documentary film
The story of how one Hiroshima survivor’s seeds of peace took root in communities across Oregon.
Summary
The Seeds of Peace follows an effort led by Hideko Tamura Snider to spread a message of peace by planting trees germinated from Hiroshima survivor trees across Oregon. As a ten year old girl in 1945, Hideko was an eyewitness to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. A survivor to one of the deadliest single bombings in the history of humanity, she dedicated her life to sharing her story and spreading the message of peace and resilience.
In 2017, Hideko began collecting the seeds of trees that also survived the atomic bomb. But Hideko couldn’t do this alone. At critical points, a network of professionals stepped in to grow these seeds and distribute over 54 trees to communities across Oregon. With the support from each individual, Oregon now contains more ginkgo and persimmon Hiroshima Peace Trees than any other state and the most in a given geographic area. Plantings across the state are led by groups of differing backgrounds and experiences ranging from veterans groups to religious organizations and from children to elders.
While each peace tree in Oregon began as a seed from Hideko’s message of peace, the film reveals that each tree has taken root in a community with its own unique and symbolic meaning of peace.
The documentary inspires viewers to reflect on two questions: What does peace mean to you? How can you cultivate peace?
Creative Team
David-Paul B. Hedberg
Producer & Director
Dave Hedberg is a professional historian and filmmaker based in Portland Oregon. His fascination with the history of the people and places in the Pacific Northwest began in his childhood by listening to the stories of his elders.
With over ten years of professional experience in historical fieldwork and archival research, Dave has helped produce multiple award winning publications and documentary films. His projects center on unearthing new archival materials and highlighting marginalized historical subjects.
His most recent projects have been documentary research for North Shore Productions and Black Bald Films. He also produced Canopy Stories a documentary anthology with NW Documentary.
James Krzmarzick
Cinematographer
James Krzmarzick is a filmmaker based in Canby, Oregon. Drawing his inspiration from nature, his focus is on stories with environmental and social impact.
In programs at OMSI and Recording Resilience, he has worked as an instructor and mentor to foster youth in the value and skills of storytelling through film.
James has produced short films for NW Documentary, Portland Urban Forestry, and the Arbor Lodge Neighborhood Association.
His most recent project has been Canopy Stories, in which he contributed the piece 82nd and Verdant and served as associate producer.
Support the film
Please help support The Seeds of Peace. Your donation will directly support us in covering the costs of post-production and distribution of the film. Whether large or small, your donation matters and you’ll be directly acknowledged in the film’s credits.
To use your credit card or online payment (note these donations are not tax deductible) use our Go Fund me page:
If you want to make Tax-deductible donations to The Seeds of Peace film please use our fiscal sponsor, Oregon Community Trees, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Please make checks out to Oregon Community Trees with "Seeds of Peace film" written on the memo line and mail to Oregon Community Trees c/o Laura Buhl, OCT Treasurer, P.O. Box 13074, Salem, Oregon 97309.