IFP PARTNERS WITH UN AND HBO FOR ENVISION

This past weekend, the documentary as a tool for change was discussed at “Envision: Addressing Global Issues Through Documentary,” a forum co-sponsored by the IFP in partnership with the United Nations Department of Public Information.

In her introductory remarks, Joana Vicente, IFP’s executive director, said that the goal of the event was to unite the “filmmaking community with the activist [community].” It was a sentiment echoed by Kiyo Akasaka, the Under-Secretary-General for Communications at the UN who encouraged the activists and filmmakers in the attendance to partner with each other “to envision a better world” and “meet the needs of the world’s poorest people.”

During his keynote speech, the legendary activist and singer, Harry Belafonte cited media as one of the most powerful tools in the activist arsenal, noting that just this Spring, “little devices have connected people without apparent ideology other than a thirst for freedom, enabling people to rebel against repression.” Belafonte announced HBO as a new partner for Envision and introduced Sheila Nevins, the head of documentary programming for the channel.

Nevins presented that night’s film, The Sound of Mumbai: A Musical, a doc about a choir of children from the slums who were selected to perform at one of India’s most prestigious concert halls. Nevins praised the film’s message that “people can rise, but someone has to orchestrate it for them.” Capping the evening was a performance by the P.S. 32 Chorus, whose rousing elementary school enthusiasm left few dry eyes.

Envision spent its second day getting down to the brass tacks of how to implement change. Hugh Evans, the very young, very enthusiastic co-founder of the Global Poverty Project, encouraged the audience to join him in the pursuit of his goal “to live in a world where a child never dies due to a lack of a thirty-cent immunization.”

He reminded the audience, “in the age of fast, international travel, each one of us has a stake in preventing disease throughout the world.” It was a presentation that was as gonzo in its hope as it was convincing … Read the rest

IFP PARTNERS WITH UN FOR ENVISION | By Mary Anderson Casavant

This weekend the documentarian as activist was discussed at “Envision: Addressing Global Issues Through Documentaries,” an event presented by the IFP and UN and hosted by The New York Times at The Times Center. In her introductory remarks, IFP Executive Director Joanna Vicente pledged that the program, now in its second year, would continue to use the UN’s Millennium Development Goals as its focal point and praised the program for attempting to “envision a better world for all and achieving that through media.” It was a sentiment echoed by Kiyoa Akasaka, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, who professed himself a “die-hard” fan of documentaries and praised filmmakers for “deepening our understanding of complex issues.”

The morning got off to an impressive start with a keynote speech by the iconic actor, singer and activist, Harry Belafonte. The former UNICEF ambassador passionately exclaimed that there was no “greater cause than the welfare of the children of our planet,” and went on to praise the power of media to instigate change, asserting, “Most of the solutions are not really complicated. What is needed is the human will to commit ourselves to what is morally right.”

Belafonte praised Jennifer Arnold‘s A Small Act, the documentary screening after his speech, saying that it had “deeply moved” him. (For more on Arnold, check out our interview, here.) Picking up the film’s theme that even the smallest act can make the largest difference, Belafonte recounted how he, Eleanor Roosevelt and Jackie Robinson had once organized an airlift that helped place 143 Kenyan students in various American universities — an action that violated a treaty between Great Britain and America.

One of those students? Barack Obama, Senior. Belafonte marveled at how event the smallest charitable act can reshape the history of the world.

During the panel discussion “Education Obstacles & Solutions in Africa,” the power of documentary to change lives was driven home by the experiences of UN employee Chris Mburu, a man whose life story is featured in A Small Act. The recipient of a scholarship that sent … Read the rest

INSIDE ENVISION: JENNIFER ARNOLD’S “A SMALL ACT” |
By Mike Plante

Presented by the IFP and UN, Envision is a daylong program dealing with the addressing of global issues through documentary. It takes place Saturday, July 10, and you can learn more here. Jennifer Arnold’s A Small Act is one of two features that will be screened at the event.

As an impoverished boy in Kenya, Chris Mburu received the fortune of one person’s small donation. When WWII-survivor Hilde Back anonymously sponsored an African child’s education, Chris not only went through school but also became a Harvard-educated human rights lawyer for the UN, all unbeknownst to Hilde. So inspired, Chris and his cousin Jane Wanjiru Muijai started the Hilde Back fund, their own scholarship fund to help Kenyan children pay to go to secondary school. In the vibrant documentary A Small Act, filmmaker Jennifer Arnold explores the world of “every dollar helps” and the incredible ripple effects possible. Arnold captures the story of Chris’s life, as Chris travels to meet Hilde for the first time, the developing process of the new Hilde fund and the lives of three children who may benefit from it.

Filmmaker: How did you hear about Chris and Hilde in the first place?

Arnold: I went to the University of Nairobi as an undergraduate for a year abroad and Jane, Chris’s cousin, she and I lived next door to each other in the dorms. I stayed in touch with her and wanted to give money to a kid in Kenya. So I called her and said, “Who’s trustworthy? I want to make sure that the money’s going to get to the kids. I don’t want it stolen.” She told me “My cousin and I are starting a fund, and he’s looking for a sponsor,” then started telling me the story. I thought it would be an amazing doc.

Chris had met Hilde for the first time already so I felt like, “Oh it already happened, that’s a bummer because it would’ve been a great film.” Then I had found out that he had videotaped her coming to Kenya and I said, “Please send me that videotape!” … Read the rest