A Place in Time: Angelina Jolie's New Documentary

Tonight I was invited by my dear brother Natabara Rollosson to attend the premiere of Angelina Jolie’s new documentary film, A Place in Time, at the Tribeca Film Festival.

A Place in Time is an experimental documentary that seeks to capture both the diversity of life around the globe and the commonality of the human spirit by filming in many places around the world at the same moment.

Having traveled the world for years to promote peace, I do believe that we can transcend the barriers of national borders, religions and cultures, and embrace our common dreams, hopes and aspirations. I mean...what is the alternative? What Angelina has sought to do with this film, is to bring our commonalities, hopes and dreams into focus. And often the narrators of the story are children. For this is also a film for children complete with a study guide, and today's premiere included a large crowd of eager NYC students invited by Angelina.

Her canvas is the world -- it’s people, animals, and geography. Our lens is her compassionate heart. She enlisted her actor friends and others – including my friend Natabara featured in China – to facilitate the stories. Among them, actors Sean Astin (Agentina), Colin Farrell (Italy), Ryan Gosline (Chad), Anne Hathaway (Cambodia) , Djimon Hounsou (Los Angeles, CA), Jude Law (New Orleans, LA), and Hillary Swank (New York, NY).

Each person flew to a unique location in the world with a hand-held mini-DV camera. The crews filmed what they saw around them, as they prepared for the big moment – when everyone would turn on their cameras for three minutes. On January 11, 2005 at 12 noon Greenwich Mean Time, those cameras rolled in 27 locations – including USA (Wisconsin, NY, Nevada, Louisiana, South Dakota and California), Chad, Niger, Kosovo, Italy, Chad, China, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, Iceland, Antarctica and elsewhere.

Editor Kurt Engfeur did an amazing job tying this spontaneous footage into a coherent story that flowed with a poetic movement that respected and enhanced nature itself. In one scene showing how we travel, we saw kite-boarders on snow, a land-rover crossing the desert, a bullock cart in a mainstreet in India, a sailboat crossing the ocean, and an SUV in Los Angeles. In another scene we jumped around the world to view children combing through trash for things to sell, and adults living in poverty in New Orleans, Chad, Haiti, and Kosovo. And underlying the powerful imagery was an extraordinarily spirited musical score that lifted the film throughout, written and performed by the great Wyclef Jean.

Why is a film like this needed? Simple. We need to educate children of developed nations who will be the leaders of tomorrow that the global community is also their community. Problems in one part of the global neighborhood are also theirs to solve. And because it will take decades to solve today's problems, educating the future leaders of tomorrow is key for they will inherit the world. So 'development education' tools like this film are important.

Having worked in support of peace and global understanding through my own efforts as organizer of the Global Peace Run and at the United Nations, I believe Angelina has succeeded brilliantly with this huge undertaking. And there are moments in the film that brought me to tears because I was overwhelmed by the pain and suffering of those less fortunate.

Angelina Jolie was appointed UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador in August 2001. To raise awareness and support for refugees she has traveled to Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Balkans and the North Caucasus. Jolie has also been a generous contributor to UNHCR’s programs around the world.

After the film, I had a chance to speak with her. I've worked with dozens of celebrities. Many are talking heads who care little for the causes they stand for; it's a photo op. They do it because it makes good PR sense.

Angelina Jolie does it because this is her life's mission. She and Bono have defined a new class of celebrity advocate. And her presence is radiant. You can feel qualities of love, devotion, humility, poise, beauty and compassion. Her voice is thoughtful and intelligent. And she uses the power of her global celebrity -in her life and through this film - to focus our attention and the media's lens and pen - on key issues: refugee rights, the AIDS epidemic in Africa, poverty in Haiti and Niger, the conflict in Kosovo, the crisis in Darfur, global warming, victims of land mines in Cambodia and rehabilitation programs that provide them with needed prostheses and wheelchairs.

She mentioned that yesterday she visited the White House, Congress and met with the Council on Foreign Relations. Bless her!