The Beacon Project is an International Film Series focused on ways in which U.S. policy impacts the lives of people around the world.

Created by New Yorker Michael Marisi Ornstein, the objective of the project is to weave together a number of personal perspectives gathered from people around the world, creating a dialogue on U.S. global influence.

When living near Montreal he found that most Canadians were well-informed concerning social and political issues in the United States and it struck him how deeply Canadians are affected by U.S. foreign and domestic policies.

Knowing this to be true for many other nations in the world as well, he began developing a project that would help to create an open dialogue about what influence the United States has abroad and to explore the personal consequences this influence has on people around the world. The focus of this project is not so much a communication between "nations" as it is a communication between "people" who happen to live in different nations.

By focusing the bulk of the series primarily on those who live outside of the United States, the Beacon Project will seek to address the role of the United States objectively, and thereby provide some clarity on the actions and decisions this country is currently pursuing both domestically and abroad.

The United States is perceived as a country increasingly divided along religious, political, ethnic, moral and economic lines and it is his hope the project will help to bring people together face to face, and break down or bridge these boundaries by encouraging a healthy communication.

Hopefully the project will also help to provoke a "Communication Movement," if you will, not only between people throughout the world - but between people living in the United States, as well.

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Blokeism for the day: Communication and understanding begets tolerance and good will - and that is a good thing.