Note to Correspondents

NEW UNITED NATIONS-INDEPENDENT FILM FORUM TO HIGHLIGHT CHALLENGES STEMMING

FROM MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, IN NEW YORK, 14-15 may

 

The first annual forum jointly produced by the United Nations Department of Public Information and the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) ‑‑ entitled “Envision:  Addressing Global Issues through Documentaries” ‑‑ will take place 14-15 May at the Directors Guild Theatre in New York City.

The event combines film presentations with live-audience discussions on pressing global issues related to the Millennium Development Goals, bringing together the international filmmaking community, entrepreneurs, activists, journalists, public policymakers, and non-governmental organizations with United Nations experts.  This year’s focus is on the Development Goals and their impact on women.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will deliver opening remarks at 9 a.m. on Thursday, 14 May.  Mr. Ban will be introduced by Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information.

“Envision provides an unparalleled opportunity for the international filmmaking and humanitarian communities to grapple with the issues of our time,” said Eric Falt, Director of the Outreach Division, United Nations Department of Public Information.  “Looking through the lens of these important documentaries, issues like violence against women, extreme poverty, and armed conflict will come into sharp, urgent focus,” he said.

Fashion model and activist Christy Turlington will deliver the keynote address.  In 2005, Ms. Turlington travelled with the humanitarian organization, CARE, to El Salvador.  She visited a remote village where pregnant women and mothers of newborns now had access to clean water.  She is also directing a documentary on maternal health in Bangladesh, United Republic of Tanzania, and Guatemala.

The two-day programme will include a spoken-word performance by Tony Award-winning playwright and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador Sarah Jones on Thursday afternoon.  Her piece is based on the Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children (2006).

Friday morning will feature a conversation with filmmaker Jonathan Demme, who in addition to his commercial work (Rachel Getting Married, The Silence of the Lambs) has made documentary films on Haiti.

Complete programme and ticket information is available at: http://www.envisionfilm.org.

For more information, please contact Sarah Rothman, 42West, tel.:  +1 646 254 6030, e-mail:  Sarah.Rothman@42West.net; or Dina Daoud, tel.:  +1 917 367 1088, e-mail:  daoudd@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record