“Never forget the real challenges and the real rewards are out there in the field, where people are suffering, where people need you.”

- Sérgio Vieira de Mello

I have always been a big fan of Samantha Power.  Her ability to convey complex international issues to a broad audience, who otherwise may  not follow international or humanitarian issues, is needed and inspirational.  I first met Samantha when she came to UCLA to speak at an event that some friends and I organized in Darfur – if you haven’t heard her speak, you should.  She has poured countless hours into the crisis of Darfur and has continued to provide poignant insight into other international issues surrounding conflict and the network of stakeholders who help (and hurt) these efforts.

Here book book Chasing the Flame: One Man’s Fight to Save the World is a national best seller, and has now been turned in to a movie: Sergio, which airs on HBO tomorrow, May 6th 2010.  You can purchase Samantha’s book here.

Working in conflict zones from Bangladesh to Sudan, Sérgio Vieira de Mello dedicated his life to helping others. He believed in upholding human dignity, both individual and collective. As a man of action and reflection, he embodies the spirit of our work to end genocide and crimes against humanity.

Film Synopsis

Based on Pulitzer Prize-winning author Samantha Power’s biography Chasing the Flame, SERGIO revolves around the story of Sergio Vieira de Mello – the world’s “go-to guy,” a cross between James Bond and Bobby Kennedy who’d probably seen more misery, more human suffering than any man of his generation.

In the summer of 2003, Sergio, a dashing 55-year old Brazilian career diplomat, was the only senior United Nations official able to charm the notoriously anti-UN Bush Administration. Urged by President Bush, Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice and Kofi Annan to lead what was ultimately a flawed UN mission to Iraq shortly after the invasion, Sergio was the only individual who had successfully led an occupied nation towards independence…in East Timor, just two years before.

In a world where most of us want to turn away from tough problems that defy easy answers, Sergio reveled in complexity, employing the full powers of his charm and intellect to seek practical solutions that never compromised his core values.  For all his deal-making swagger, Sergio was at heart an idealist who devoted his life to the simple belief that people the world over have a basic right to live their lives with dignity.

Call in discussion following the film (organized by the Center For American Progress):

Join activists and viewers across the country this Thursday to watch the HBO premiere of “Sergio,” a powerful film about the life of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the U.N.’s top envoy in Baghdad following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and one of the most tireless and effective advocates for peace and stability the world has ever known.

Tune in to HBO Thursday, May 6 from 8-9:30 p.m. or request a free DVD copy of the film.

The Enough Project and Campus Progress have teamed up to coordinate and organize house parties across the U.S. to view and discuss the film together. A nationwide conference call will immediately follow the screening to give audience members the chance to discuss the film with special guests Samantha Power, senior director for multilateral affairs at the National Security Council, who wrote a biography of Vieira de Mello in 2008; John Prendergast, Co-founder of the Enough Project; and Greg Barker, director of “Sergio.”

Call Details:
Time: 9:35 p.m. EST (right after the HBO airing)
Dial in Number: 877.210 – 8943
Conference ID: 70957757

Click here to sign-up and learn more.