How do you make sense of what is happening in the world? Do you scream and shake your fists at the heavens or do you mourn in silence? Do you become angry and speak up or do you shake your head and get on with your life? Do you despair of mankind or do you still believe in the basic good in people?

This documentary portrays five people, five opinions, five viewpoints. The common link: A plea for humanity. Bringing these people together on screen, we ask them the questions everybody is struggling to answer and in turn try to raise the consciousness of everybody who watches them speak. There is no judgement here, no right or wrong, only opinions and the need to see a better world without terrorism and the war against it.

The journey takes us from George Galloway (the Politician), to Yasmin Atoullah (the Muslima), to Roger Willemsen (the Writer), to Cosma Shiva Hagen (the Actress) to Dr. Daniele Ganser (the Historian). The opinion of a Politician may differ from a Historian's viewpoint, but both have merit. A Muslima's  take on her personal beliefs may personalize what is commonly known as a religion. A writer's travels and what he witnesses may shake a person's faith in one's government and its politics. An actress's honest compassion for the suffering of citizens in a country at war may make us take a good hard look at what we have come to these last few years.

These five people have no apparent connection to each other, but they have something in common: They try to speak up, to do something in their power to help make this world a better place. Compassion comes in different forms and shades –taking care of one's immediate surroundings, family or place of work. It can come from studying and telling the world that we are repeating ourselves. It can be done in politics, fighting for what one believes in. It can manifest itself in spreading good thoughts and faith or by visiting a school in Afganisthan and showing those children and their suffering to the world.   There are different ways to deal with what's happening in the world in the 21st century. Ours is to ask questions and try to look at the answers and their context from a distance, trying to keep it simple. This is the reason why this film is called "shades of truth"; because each person has its own truth and in a million years we will never all agree on one version.