Cinéma Vérité - Press Conference 21 May 2007 - Cannes, France

I was very honoured to accept Joel Soler’s invitation to serve as the Honorary President of these first International Rendez Vous of Cinéma Vérité – especially and obviously because it is dedicated to landmines and cluster bombs – even if I cannot be here today, and I thank the Executive Director of our International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Madam Sylvie Brigot, for representing me and our Campaign.

You all know much better than I the role of cinema in helping shape the world. Sometimes movies are a great escape, but it is also important that cinema serves to touch people deeply while informing them about critical issues of our times. Even for us in the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, the question is always how do we engage the public; how do we touch them in such a way that they are changed for the better and want to participate in creating a better world.

Cinema Verité has chosen to highlight the very important work of filmmakers who take up serious issues that demand broad attention

Jody Williams - ICBL Collection

and cry out for action. I am pleased to be part of this initiative which pays tribute to people who have made significant contribution to bettering our world through film.

I very much would have liked to have been here today, but I am in Lima, Peru right now, working on one of the issues that Cinema Verite 2007 will highlight – cluster munitions. The international meeting I am participating in is one of a series of such meetings that will result in a treaty to ban cluster munitions in early 2008. We have a lot of work before us –many, many governments need to be convinced that they can live without these weapons.

We will work hard to ensure a new international treaty as successful as the Mine Ban Treaty, which we helped bring about exactly ten years ago. If we worried about the millions of landmines in the arsenals of the militaries of the world when we started the ban movement, we must be even more so knowing that there are billions of cluster munitions in stockpiles around the world. Not millions -- billions.

We believe all disarmament is important but we are not blind, and fully aware that many other issues need attention – Darfur, Burma, HIV/Aids, poverty, hunger, war…. Cinema Vérité also pays tribute, through movies and filmmakers, other Nobel Laureates whose work has contributed to making our world a better place; as well as other individuals, such as Carla Del Ponte and Lois Jenson, whose commitment and actions have changed the world for the better.

All of us count on the media to report on the issues that must be resolved for our common good and the future of our planet. Each and every one of us must raise our voices and take action in our own way to contribute to a saner and safer world for us all.

Thank you for your interest, and I look forward to seeing you myself on October 10th in Monaco for the Opening of this first Cinema Verité International Rendez vous.

Jody Williams