"THE JOURNEY is an attempt at a fully international cinema. Producer-director Peter Watkins (THE WAR GAME, EDVARD MUNCH) worked with support groups in nations around the world, raising money and assembling casts and crews. During 1984-1985 the film was shot in the US, Canada, Norway, Scotland, France, West Germany, Mozambique, Japan, Australia, Tahiti, and Mexico. Watkins talks with families and citizen groups in these nations about the network of social and political issues we are all part of - especially about the world arms race and its relationship to world hunger, gender politics, and the functioning of the mass media. Survivors of the bombings of Hiroshima and Hamburg reminisce about their experiences, and groups of people psychodramatize scenarios the threat of a Third World War might necessitate. Most important, however, as THE JOURNEY develops, the people Watkins works with begin to explore possibilities for moving through the barriers that separate peoples, toward a more peaceful, synergic world.

"THE JOURNEY is a 14 1/2-hour film which can be experienced over a weekend or over an extended period of time (the film is divided into 19 sections). It can be rented as a whole or in sections. And there are recommended shorter versions: check with Canyon Cinema for details. What follows [see listings for individual reels] is Watkins' precis of the first part of each of the 19 reels. A more complete outline of each reel of THE JOURNEY is available on request from Canyon Cinema. Our hope is that whenever THE JOURNEY is shown in shorter-than-original form, outlines of those reels of the film not shown will be made available to viewers." - Scott MacDonald