NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS DOCUMENTARY FILM "RALPH BUNCHE: AN AMERICAN ODYSSEY"

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS DOCUMENTARY FILM ‘RALPH BUNCHE: AN AMERICAN ODYSSEY’

TO BE SCREENED AT HEADQUARTERS, 22 JUNE

A special screening of the documentary film “Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey” will take place at the United Nations Headquarters on Thursday, 22 June, in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium at 1 p.m. and 6:15 p.m., in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. Bunche being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The documentary, produced by Emmy award-winning independent filmmaker William Greaves and narrated by Sydney Poitier, is about the life and times of Dr. Bunche and is based on the book “Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey” by Sir Brian Urquhart, former United Nations Under-Secretary-General.

A skilled negotiator, Ralph Bunche was the first African-American and the first person of colour to be awarded the Peace Prize. He was honoured in 1950 in recognition of his successful mediation of the Armistice Agreements between the Arab nations and Israel. This was the first and only time that all four Arab nations -- Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria -- signed an agreement with Israel that put an end to fighting in the Middle East. In the course of his United Nations service, which spanned some 25 tumultuous years, he made notable contributions to the Organization in the fields of peacekeeping, decolonization and human rights. He was also actively involved in the struggle for civil rights in America as far back as the 1930s.

Dr. Bunche was among the United Nations founding figures. He was a key drafter of the United Nations Charter, contributing to the chapters devoted to the Trusteeship Council and non-self governing territories in particular. As United Nations Under- Secretary-General for almost two decades, Ralph Bunche was referred to as Mr. UN and the peacemaker of his times. After negotiating the Armistice Agreements in Rhodes, he said: “I have a deep-seated bias against hate and intolerance. I have a bias against racial and religious bigotry. I have a bias against war, and a bias for peace. I have a bias that leads me to believe in the essential goodness of my fellow man, which leads me to believe that no problem of human relations is ever insoluble. ... I have a strong bias in favour of the United Nations and its ability to maintain a peaceful world.”

In a biography of Ralph Bunche published in 1993, Sir Brian Urquhart states: “Bunche was one of those unusual people, rare in public life, whose personality and behaviour were unaffected by success or fame”, adding “The grander he got, the nicer and more relaxed he became.”

The film documentary celebrates the life and contributions to humanity of this “forgotten hero” of the United Nations.

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