Last night FilmAid Asia and long term supporters Moet & Chandon and The Upper House teamed up to host an exclusive cocktail and screening of "Plastic Oceans" - a documentary that unveils the catastrophic impact of disposable plastic on the environment.
Approximately 50 guests were able to preview the highly anticipated film and seek insight from Film Producer, Jo Ruxton, and Chief Conservations Officer, Cynthia Phillips, PHD, on solutions to the global plastic disaster.
To view the film yourself, please contact kforster@filmaid.org.
FilmAid Asia's Mary Soan Wins Diva/Hugo Boss High Heeled Warrior Award
FilmAid's program director in Asia, Mary Soan, has won the Diva/Hugo Boss High Heeled Warrior Award for Community Service!
The High Heeled Warrior Awards aim to recognize and celebrate women living in Asia who have contributed and created a positive impact in their community. Mary is recognized for her work for FilmAid on the Thai/Burma border.
FilmAid's work in Asia began in 2009 with a highly successful pilot project in Thailand's Mae La refugee camp, one of nine camps located on the country's western border with Burma which hosts more than 150,000 refugees. Over the past four years Mary has overseen programming in the region, including the creation of multiple films, training and mentoring of refugees within FilmAid Asia's Film Production Programme, and the addition of a workshop space for training, auditions, rehearsals and shooting.
You can read an interview with Mary about her influences and career on the High Heeled Warrior's website and watch a clip about Mary's work for FilmAid and what winning this award means to her below. Congratulations, Mary!
FilmAid to Honor Sebastian Junger at Annual Power of Film Benefit
FilmAid’s Annual Power of Film Benefit will be held on November 20 in New York City. We are excited to announce that we will honor Sebastian Junger with the Richard C. Holbrooke Memorial Award for Dedication to Humanitarian Service.
Author of The Perfect Storm and WAR, Junger is one of America's most acclaimed writers. He is also a documentary filmmaker whose Restrepo, a feature-length documentary chronicling the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, was nominated for an Oscar.
Sebastian’s latest film, a documentary from HBO Films titled Which Way Is the Front Line from Here?, chronicles the life and career of frequent collaborator and close friend Tim Hetherington, who passed away in the war zones of Libya.
As a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and as a contributor to ABC News, he has covered major international news stories around the world, and has been awarded the National Magazine Award and an SAIS Novartis Prize for Journalism. He has also written for such magazines as Harper's, The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic Adventure, Outside and Men's Journal.
Presenting to Sebastian will be author and human rights advocate Kati Marton, whose late husband Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke was an early supporter of FilmAid and namesake of the annual award. Marton has been a great friend to FilmAid and we are delighted for her to join us.
Since 1980, Marton has published eight books. Her 2009 book, a Cold War memoir entitled Enemies of the People - My Family’s Journey to America, published by Simon & Schuster, was a National Book Critics Circle finalist and is soon to be the subject of a major motion picture. Her latest book, Paris – A Love Story, published in August 2012 by Simon & Schuster, is a memoir with Paris at its heart and like all stories of Paris, love as its theme.
Marton is on the board of directors of the Committee to Protect Journalists, the International Rescue Committee, the New America Foundation, and Central European University. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, P.E.N. International and the Author’s Guild. In 2011 she was awarded the Leo Nevas Human Rights Award from the United Nations Association.
We’d love to see you on November 20! For tickets and more information, visit www.filmaid.org/Nov20.