YEAR-LONG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL FOR NEW YORK CITY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS CONCLUDES ON 2 JUNE

Note to Correspondents

Year-Long International Film Festival for New York City

High School Students Concludes on 2 June

The International Film Festival at the United Nations, a partnership between the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) and the Film Society of the United Nations Staff Recreation Council, is part of a larger programme of outreach to the community of students in New York City's public high schools.  The last film of this academic year, “Marooned in Iraq”, directed by Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi, will be screened on 2 June.  Students will take a guided tour of the United Nations between 12 noon and 1:30 p.m., followed by the movie screening from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium.

Since the beginning of the programme in January 2003, more than 1,700 students from more than forty high schools have participated.  Each film screening, preceded by a guided tour of UN Headquarters, is attended by some 175 high school students.  This International Film Festival seeks to create an "Open Classroom" in the United Nations for the students and contribute to their global awareness, artistic enrichment and civic spirit.  The film festival also involves delegations from United Nations Member States.  After each screening, representatives from the film’s "home" country join for a question-and-answer session with students.  The selected films share the common theme of representing contemporary life in the filmmaker’s country from a cultural, social or political perspective.  By using film as a medium to introduce students to other cultures, thestudents are able to visually, emotionally and intellectually experience life in another country.

So far, a total of 11 movies have been screened, including films from Afghanistan ("Osama"), Brazil ("Central Station"), China ("Beijing Bicycle"), Germany ("Beyond Silence"), Iran ("The Circle"), Italy ("Cinema Paradiso"), Japan ("Dreams"), Republic of Korea (“The Way Home”), Sweden ("My Life as a Dog"), Switzerland ("Journey of Hope") and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (“Before the Rain”).

For more information, please contact Dr. Roberta Seret, Executive Director, International Film Festival at the United Nations, at 1-212-734-9210.

* *** *