As the public voice of the United Nations, the Department of Public Information is dedicated to communicating the ideals and work of the United Nations to the world; to interacting and partnering with diverse audiences; and to building support for peace, development and human rights for all. The Department promotes global awareness and understanding of the work and ideals of the United Nations, maximizing its global impact. Launched in 2009, the United Nations Creative Community Outreach Initiative was designed to collaborate with the creative community in order to achieve out mutual goals of promoting peace and raising awareness of critical global issues. We believe that awareness is a powerful tool in the face of injustice because it inspires compassionate action. Through creative media, we can bring honour, empathy and compassion to our stories, and, ultimately, to the people who live them. http://www.un.org/en/creative
The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) is the nation's oldest and largest not-for-profit advocacy organization for independent filmmakers. Since its debut at the 1979 New York Film Festival, IFP has supported the production of over 7,000 films and offered resources to more than 20,000 filmmakers, providing an opportunity for many diverse voices to be heard. IFP believes that independent films enrich the universal language of cinema, seeding the global culture with new ideas, kindling awareness, and fostering activism. The organization championed the early work of pioneering independent filmmakers Charles Burnett, Todd Haynes, Mira Nair, Michael Moore, Joel and Ethan Coen, Kevin Smith, and Todd Solondz. IFP continues to play a vital role in launching first films of many of today’s rising stars on the independent scene including Debra Granik (“Down to the Bone”), Miranda July (“Me, You and Everyone We Know”), and Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden (“Half Nelson”). www.ifp.org.
The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization with its headquarters in New York. For 75 years it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation and advance human achievement. The foundation’s JustFilms initiative, launched in 2011, builds on Ford’s longtime support for documentaries and acknowledges the importance of visual narratives in creating social change. Leveraging the foundation’s global network of regional offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, JustFilms seeks to identify new talent from around the world and to strengthen emerging communities of documentary filmmakers. www.fordfoundation.org
Kiyo Akasaka, Under Secretary-General, Department of Communications and Public Information, United Nations
Orlando Bagwell, Director, JustFilms, Ford Foundation
Harry Belafonte, International Goodwill Ambassador, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Lawrence Bender, Producer
Kathy Calvin, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, UN Foundation
Helen Clark, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme
Dan Cogan, Impact Partners (US)
Antonio Pedro Monteiro Lima, Permanent Representative of Cape Verde to the United Nations
Mette Hoffman Meyer, DRTV (Denmark)
Craig Nevill-Manning, Engineering Director, Google
Sheila Nevins, President, HBO Documentary Films
Katherine Oliver, Commissioner, NYC Mayor's Office of Media & Entertainment
Robert Orr, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Planning, United Nations
Zukang Sha, Under Secretary-General, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations
Diane Weyermann, Executive Vice President of Documentary Films, Participant Media
The UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) serve as the focal point for screenings, panel discussions and social networking. The Spotlight Focus in 2012 is the MDGs and their impact on ensuring environmental sustainability.
The MDGs are to eradicate poverty, achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop global partnership for development.
