UN / FISHER STEVENS

Interview with actor and Academy Award winner Fisher Stevens on his ‘War Against War' documentary project about peacekeeping. UNTV / THE CULTURE PROJECT

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:07
• Production Date: 24 March 2010
• Asset Language: Original
• Subject Topical: FINE ARTS; LITERATURE; MUSIC; COMMUNICATIONS; MASS MEDIA
• Geographic Subject: HAITI
• MAMS Id: U100324f

Description

STORY: UN / FISHER STEVENS
TRT: 2.07
SOURCE: UNTV/ CULTURE PROJECT
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 24 MARCH 2010, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE

Shotlist

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Pan left, exterior North Lawn UN building

24 MARCH 2010, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Secretary General and USGs Le Roy and Malcorra arriving
3. Zoom out, The Secretary General with Fisher Stevens and others
4. Zoom in, Secretary General and Stevens shaking hands
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Fisher Stevens, Actor and Filmmaker:
“I had no idea what the peacekeepers did before I started working on the films a year ago; and I was basically trying to explain what a peacekeeper is. It is a very controversial kind of subject; people all have preconceived notions of the blue hats and I wanted to kind of shed light that it’s not black and white and that they can be used as some of the most important players on the world stage.”

FILE – CULTURE PROJECT - RECENT, HAITI

6. Various shots, War against War film

24 MARCH 2010, NEW YORK CITY

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Fisher Stevens, Actor and Filmmaker:
“It’s about feeding people, it is about giving people clean water, it is about educating people, it is about taking a society that is in turmoil and really trying to make it whole. And I have a whole new respect, especially after being on the ground, and it is a difficult task.”

FILE – CULTURE PROJECT - RECENT, HAITI

8. Various shots, War against War film

24 MARCH 2010, NEW YORK CITY

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Fisher Stevens, Actor and Filmmaker:
“I am hoping that the world kind of can understand more about what peacekeeping is, and that’s my job, it is to try to shed light on it so that everybody can understand it and make more peacekeepers; make more people want to be peacekeepers, as opposed to making more people want to go to war.”

FILE – CULTURE PROJECT - RECENT, HAITI

10. Various shots, War against War film

Storyline

Academy award winning filmmaker Fisher Stevens presented his new short-film documentary “The War against War” today (24 March) at the United Nations(UN).

The film, which is still a work in progress, takes an in-depth look at the UN Peacekeeping missions around the world and was originally intended as five short clips to be shown during the UN day tribute to peacekeepers.

Stevens who has starred in dozens of films and TV shows and who was recently given an Academy Award as the producer of the documentary “The Cove”, said that he “had no idea what the peacekeepers did before I started working on the films” , adding that people have “preconceived notions” about the blue helmets.

He pointed out that when making the film, he came to understand that at its core, peacekeeping is “about taking a society that is in turmoil and really trying to make it whole”, which gave him “a whole new respect” for the work that peacekeepers do.

Stevens said that his hope is that people can “understand more about what peacekeeping is” and more people will want to be peacekeepers, “as opposed to making more people want to go to war.”

While the "War against War" was being shot in Haiti, the devastating 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti on January 12. The final version of the documentary will now include footage of the devastation and focus on how it threatens the progress of peacekeeping, and how peacekeepers must adjust to a new situation on the ground.