VIENNA / NICOLAS CAGE

UNODC's Goodwill Ambassador actor Nicolas Cage speaks of the anguish of victims of organized crimes around the world including "heart wrenching" stories of the children he met during his recent trip to East Africa. UNODC

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:55
• Production Date: 21 October 2010
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME - UNODC
• Subject Topical: DISARMAMENT; CRIMES; CRIMINAL JUSTICE
• MAMS Id: U101021c

Description

STORY: VIENNA / NICOLAS CAGE
TRT: 1:55
SOURCE: UNODC
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGAUGES: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 21 OCTOBER 2010, VIENNA AUSTRIA

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, UN Vienna headquarters
2. Various shots, Nicolas Cage with head of UNODC Yury Fedotov
3. Med shot, Cage and Fedotov entering the building
4. Med shot, Cage and Fedotov arriving at press conference room
5. Cutaway, audience
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicolas Cage, Actor and UN Goodwill Ambassador:
“Throughout my career as an actor, I’ve played many parts, heroes and villains, lovers and losers, and yes, criminals and crime fighters. But Goodwill Ambassador for Global Justice for the UN office on Drugs and Crime is certainly my most challenging and meaningful role. At some point, I decided to stop being an actor and start taking some action.”
7. Cutaway, audience
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicolas Cage, Actor and UN Goodwill Ambassador:
“When I went to East Africa with UNODC, I met many children who were victims of crime and I listened to their stories. They were survivors of sex trafficking and former child soldiers, some were receiving treatment for drug addiction or HIV. Their stories were heart wrenching. I met a young girl who had been a sex slave of a rebel leader and bore his child. I met a boy who was forced to kill his own sister at gunpoint. And, I was told, about an 8-year-old boy who was made to eat his 15-year brother alive and while biting his brother’s neck, he said to him, I’m still with you. But, as horrifying as it sounds, I was also amazed by these children, and deeply humbled.”
9. Cutaway, audience

Storyline

Nicolas Cage, renowned actor, filmmaker and Goodwill Ambassador for Global Justice for the United Nations (UN) Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), today (21 Oct) spoke of the anguish of victims, especially the young, of organized crimes around the world, urging States to join a UN pact designed to fight the scourge.

At a press conference at UNODC’s headquarters in Vienna, Cage said being a Goodwill Ambassador “is certainly my most challenging and meaningful role. At some point, I decided to stop being an actor and start taking some action.”

He recalled his mission with UNODC to Kenya and Uganda last year where he met a 15-year-old boy who is serving a 10-year jail term in the Kenyan city of Mombasa after he was captured as part of a group of marine pirates off the coast of Somalia. In Uganda, children who had been abducted and forced to become soldiers narrated heart-wrenching stories of atrocities they had been forced to commit, as well as the sexual slavery some had endured.

He detailed heart-wrenching stories of these victims saying that “as horrifying as it sounds, I was also amazed by these children, and deeply humbled.”

Cage became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNODC in December 2009. Prior to his appointment, he donated $2 million to establish a fund to help former child soldiers, providing support for rehabilitation shelters and medical, psychological and reintegration services. He also led a campaign around Lord of War to raise awareness about international arms control.