Note to Correspondents

DOCUMENTARY ON BIRTH OF UNITED NATIONS TO BE SCREENED

IN DAG HAMMARSKJöLD AUDITORIUM 11 OCTOBER AT 8 P.M.

 

A one-hour documentary film about the birth of the United Nations and the fascinating behind-the-scenes story of the building of its Headquarters is to be shown in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium on Wednesday 11 October 2006 at 8 p.m.  Entitled A Workshop for Peace, the documentary was produced by award-winning American filmmaker Peter Rosen, in association with the United Nations Department of Public Information, with support from Tele Images International, a French distribution company, and Japan’s national broadcaster, NHK.

The one-hour documentary was produced to commemorate the United Nations sixtieth anniversary and includes never-before-seen film of the original team of architects at work as they struggled to come up with an appropriate design for the Headquarters of the newly founded Organization that was committed to “saving future generations from the scourge of war”.

On their last working day, Wallace K. Harrison, an American who served as chief architect, said:  “The world hopes for a symbol of peace; we have given them a workshop for peace”.

A Workshop for Peace documents how the 11-member international design team, each with a different background and prominent in his own right, rose to the challenge of overcoming their disagreements to design and eventually build a new symbol of peace and reconciliation.

Join Filmmaker Peter Rosen and his production team after the screening in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium on Wednesday 11 October, for a question and answer session.

For more information please contact Dawn Johnston-Britton at tel.:  963 6982 or e-mail:  Johnston-britton@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record