Artists throughout the world, often outside mainstream culture, commit their lives to opposing war and barbarism through their art. They carry the message “Never again” so often heard after World War II and try, sometimes desperately, to capture our attention. This film takes us on a journey to meet some of them, to learn about their hopes and beliefs, their questionings and doubts, and to show a way towards a better future for the world.

The Messengers is an encounter with some exceptional artists who are also compelling characters: Nigel Osborne, the Scottish born humanist and musician, who has devised a new approach to music therapy for war traumatized children; Dominique Blain, Canadian installation artist whose work is geared to denouncing war games; Nicole Stéphane, militant filmmaker whose work spans many decades from the Spanish Civil War to the conflict in Bosnia; Susan Sontag, writer and activist who spent nearly three years working in Sarajevo under siege and developed a lasting friendship with Nicole Stéphane; Daniel Mermet, French writer and radio reporter whose motto is “to interfere in what is not our business without asking anyone’s permission”; and Ernest Pignon-Ernest, creator of street art who works with community groups in South Africa to raise Aids-awareness.