This book review is written by Colm Brannigan, a Chartered mediator, arbitrator, med-arbitrator, and trainer.
Mediation at its core is about story telling. Reel Mediation uses film to create a practical entry point for discussing how people experience conflict, how power and emotion affect communication, and why process choices matter. Film gives us stories about conflict that we can pause, replay, and discuss.
This is the starting point for Reel Mediation – A Dispute Resolution Journey Through Film, by well-known ADRIO member Helen Lightstone. Her book uses selected films to help readers think about familiar issues in dispute resolution. While not a primary text on mediation theory, it can definitely work well in a training room, mentoring discussion, or reflective practice group.
Much of our work involves helping people understand their various stories: the story they tell themselves, the story they tell others, and the story they believe the other side refuses to hear. Film offers a concrete way to examine those dynamics without using an actual case or raising confidentiality concerns. Conflict often turns on how the story is told, whose perspective is accepted, and what kind of resolution seems possible.
The book is organized around selected films, each illustrating a different dimension of conflict and dispute resolution. The range is broader and richer than the title might suggest. 12 Angry Men introduces group decision-making, persuasion, and the movement from certainty to doubt. The Tenth Man explores negotiation. Woman in Gold provides an entry point into arbitration and art restitution. Music from the Big House and Colonia support discussion of process design, trauma, and institutional context. The War of the Roses covers advanced mediation, while Gran Torino calls for reflection on culture, identity, communication, and power.
The structure works well with each film becoming a pathway into a discussion that might otherwise remain abstract. The writing is accessible and conversational. The author writes as both an educator and a practitioner. The book does not prescribe; it invites readers to notice more.
Many dispute resolution concepts can sound somewhat abstract when discussed only in text: neutrality, framing, empathy, authority, fairness, power, and apology. Film makes those ideas visible. A glance, a pause, a change in tone, or a badly timed intervention can show more than a lengthy explanation. That is why film is useful in training. It gives people something specific to discuss.
I found the book most useful when it uses film as a trigger for professional reflection rather than a substitute for theory. It provides concrete material for topics difficult to teach in the abstract, including power, emotion, fairness, judgment, and professional role.
Reel Mediation offers an accessible way to start conversations about mediator judgment and professional identity. It could be used in a course, a workshop, a study group, or as a prompt for experienced practitioners to reflect on their own assumptions. The book encourages readers to challenge what they are seeing. Who is being heard? Who has power? Who is treated as credible? What assumptions are being made concerning fairness, authority, or culture? These are not just questions for film analysis. They are questions mediators face in practice, often in subtle ways.
The films give readers concrete situations to discuss who is participating, what is being framed, what information is available, and whether the process is fair. These are practical questions. They go to judgment and to the design of a process that fits the dispute.
Film is well-suited to this reflection because it captures elements easy to miss in written scenarios: silence, tone, timing, facial expressions, interruptions, and discomfort. Those details matter in mediation. Mediation is not only a procedural exercise. It also requires attention to communication, emotion, timing, and judgment. The film selection reflects choices about accessibility and audience familiarity. A future edition or companion resource might include a wider range of international films that could deepen the cultural discussion and broaden examples of justice, reconciliation, authority, and community.
Reflection questions, discussion templates, suggested clips, or links to mediator competencies might be useful in making it easier for trainers to use the book in a course or workshop.
For practitioners, the value of Reel Mediation is found in its invitation to slow down, observe and participate in reflective practice. Every conflict has a narrative, and every participant has their version of events to explain blame, loss, justification, identity, and hope.
Mediators do not write parties’ stories. But we can help parties examine how their stories interact, where they may be incomplete, and whether different understandings are possible. Experienced mediators will recognize many of the moments the book points toward: the shift in tone when someone feels heard, the importance of timing, the role of silence, and the difficulty of separating a legal position from the story that gives it emotional force.
Films often show the same event from different angles or reveal information gradually. It can make emotional messages visible and help mediators reflect on how well they notice and respond to them.
Reel Mediation is a very useful addition to the dispute resolution bookshelf. It does not try to replace traditional texts on mediation theory or practice. Instead, it complements them by giving readers another way to view conflict.
Trainers can use this book alongside core mediation resources, by pairing film-based discussions with key theoretical readings or established case studies. Practical exercises can be enhanced by incorporating film clips to illustrate specific concepts and then using traditional texts to deepen the analysis. This approach can help create more cohesive and engaging training sessions by reinforcing theory with vivid, relatable examples.
The purpose of the book is to help readers use film to observe conflict more carefully. As mediators, we often remind parties that their stories matter. Lightstone’s book is a useful reminder that watching conflict carefully, in person or on the screen, can sharpen how we listen, question, and design process in our own work.
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Reviewed and Edited by the ADRIO Newsletter Blog Committee in collaboration with Staff:
Babara Benoliel (Chair)
Ben Drory
Kim Parish
Phil Osagie
Tommy Lam (Staff)
The opinions expressed in the articles featured in this blog are that of the respective writers and do not represent the views of The ADR Institute of Ontario.