United Nations Association of New York invites you to join us for a special one-night film screening of
SERGIO
Nominated for a Primetime Emmy
for Exceptional Merit Nonfiction Filmmaking
followed by an open discussion with
Dr. Jamal Benomar
Chef de Cabinet of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Based on Pulitzer Prize-winning author Samantha Power's biography Chasing the Flame, SERGIO revolves around the story of Sergio Vieira de Mello appointed by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2003 to lead what was ultimately a flawed UN mission to Iraq shortly after the invasion. Sergio, who worked for the United Nations for 35 years, was at heart an idealist who devoted his life to the simple belief that people the world over have a basic right to live their lives with dignity. He didn't want the Iraq job and had opposed the war to begin with -- but Sergio arrived in Baghdad accompanied by his "A Team" - the best and brightest experts the UN had to offer - and his colleague and fiancée, Carolina, whom he'd met in East Timor.
Sergio assumed that the Bush Administration -- having prevailed upon him to go to Iraq -- actually wanted his advice and he set about trying to end the occupation as soon as possible. Instead, he found himself accused by the growing insurgency as being a tool of the Americans...and on August 19, 2003, Sergio himself became a target. A huge truck bomb exploded directly beneath his office, instantly killing many UN employees, including members of his own "A Team." But Sergio himself was alive.
As Carolina searched desperately through the rubble, two American firefighters from the Army Reserves selflessly climbed into the claustrophobic tomb of the collapsed building, in what would become an intense and desperate struggle to survive. At the bottom of a deep, narrow shaft the two soldiers found Sergio. For all the lives he had saved across his long and extraordinary career, his own was now entirely in the hands of these two unforgettable men.
After the screening, Dr. Jamal Benomar, who appears in the film and was Sergio's political advisor at the time in Iraq, will lead a discussion about Sergio's life and what it's like to devote your life to being an international civil servant. Dr. Benomar is currently the Chef de Cabinet of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the Office of the President of the General Assembly.
In 1999, the United Nations Association of New York honored Sergio Vieira de Mello, with its Humanitarian of the Year Award.
Click here to view the film trailer.
ADMISSION:
FREE TO UNA MEMBERS
$10.00 FOR NON MEMBERS (or join UNA and attend for free!)
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SPACE IS LIMITED!
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Questions? Please call (212) 907-1353 or e-mail us at info@unanyc.org
Where & When
The Tribeca Grand Hotel
2 Avenue of the Americas
between White and Walker Streets
Friday, July 30, 2010
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. - Registration & Reception with Cash Bar
Screening begins promptly at 7:00 p.m. followed by the discussion