Note to Correspondents

Education Is Focus for 2010 as New York Premiere of Documentary

 

‘A Small Act’ Kicks Off Second Annual Envision Forum

 

United Nations Secretary-General to Make Opening Remarks at 8 July Film Screening

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will make opening remarks at the New York premiere of A Small Act, a documentary film that traces the journey a young man from his African childhood to his career with the United Nations, thanks to a distant benefactor.

The screening will take place on Thursday, 8 July, at the HBO Theater in New York City, co-hosted by HBO, the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) and the United Nations Department of Public Information.  The film will be screened again on Saturday, 10 July, at The TimesCenter as part of the second annual “Envision: Addressing Global Issues through Documentaries”, a forum jointly produced by the Department of Public Information and IFP.

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

A Small Act tells the story of a young Kenyan whose life changed drastically when his education was sponsored by a Swedish stranger.  Years later, after graduating from Harvard Law School and joining the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, he founded his own scholarship programme to replicate the kindness he once received.

The screening will be followed by a panel on “Education Obstacles and Solutions in Africa — The Power of One” featuring Chris Mburu, the central character in the film.  Jennifer Arnold, the documentary’s award-winning director, will introduce the film.

Another new documentary being screened at this year’s Envision is Waiting for Superman, a film by Academy Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) about how best to improve the United States public school system.  It will be followed by a panel discussion on “Public Education:  Examining the Old Model and Probing the New”.

A third panel discussion, “Telling Their Own Stories: The Individual as Documentarian and the Impact of User-Generated Media”, will be based on a selection of short user-generated videos about education conditions around the globe from Breakthrough, UNICEF, Video Volunteers, Witness and World Without Walls.

“Envision will once again offer a unique opportunity for the international filmmaking and humanitarian communities to grapple with some of the most urgent social issues of our time,” said Eric Falt, Director of the Outreach Division, Department of Public Information.  “For the United Nations, 2010 is a critical year for accelerating progress towards meeting the most basic needs of billions of the poorest and the most vulnerable people around the world,” he stressed.

“With only five years remaining to the Millennium Development Goals target date of 2015, filmmakers are key partners for bringing the message of the United Nations to the public,” Mr. Falt continued.  “With your help, the United Nations can bring to light the many challenges we face in ensuring that children everywhere, boys and girls alike, overcome poverty and war and are able to complete their primary schooling.”

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

Media contact for HBO: Lana Iny, tel.: +1 212 512 1462, e‑mail: lana.iny@ hbo.com; or Jessica Manzi, tel. +1 212 512 1322, e‑mail: Jessica.manzi@hbo.com.

For media accreditation for Envision, please contact Jody Arlington, tel.: +1 202 316 4316, e-mail: jodyarlington@mac.com.

For more information, please contact Joanna Piucci, tel.: +1 212 963 7346, e‑mail: piucci@un.org; or Carlos Islam, tel. +1 212 963 2985, e‑mail: islamc@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record