Pre-Emmy Award Luncheon and Film Screening,

About the event

In 2015, Human Security Centre, a London-based foreign policy think-tank, co-sponsored the New York Times op-doc My Enemy, My Brother (Fathom Films Group, 2015), directed and produced by Ann Shin and Melanie Horkan. The film is a moving real life story about the chance encounters between two men, Zahed and Najah, who first found themselves as enemies on the opposite sides of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), but who, around twenty years later, became blood brothers for life when, by sheer chance, their paths crossed again, this time as war refugees in Vancouver.

What makes the story so powerful, timely and touching is that although it unravels within familiar contexts of war and displacement, the themes at its heart are not violence or division, but peace, hope and reconciliation. Within its 16-minute duration, the short documentary not only presents an unforgettable story, but also grapples with several key issues facing us today – the consequences of war, the struggles of war survivors, the question of missing peoples, the situation with refugees, and the need to direct greater attention to mental health. Crucially, instead of focusing just on the barbarities of conflict, the film intentionally conveys a strong, positive message about how goodness and humanity can prevail among individual actors amidst the heat of war and against the demands of charismatic ideologues with dangerous ideologies. 

The critically-acclaimed film has been screened at film festivals the world over, from Vancouver and Tribeca to Sheffield and Amsterdam. It won the Founders Prize for Best Documentary Short at the Travese City Film Festival, the Sepanta Award for Best Short Documentary at the Iranian Film Festival San Francisco, and the Best Short Documentary Award at the PromoFest Short of the Year – Autumn. The film was shortlisted for an Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) and, more recently, had been nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Documentary.

Given how delicately and yet powerfully the film touches upon themes so relevant to the world today, the three hosts intend to join forces to make sure the film has as great an impact as possible not just at the Emmys, but also at the 70^th Session of the United Nations General Assembly to be convened in NYC in the same period. Incidentally, the theme of the high-level thematic debate this year will be ‘Maintenance of International Peace and Security’, a theme for which My Enemy, My Brother could not be any more apt and well suited. The event will also serve as the final celebration of the film, ahead of the official Emmy Award ceremony at Jazz at the Lincoln Center on 21 September 2016.

You can watch the 16-minute film here: www.myenemymybrothermovie.com

Why should you sponsor?

The event will bring together the leading lights of the film and television industry, as well as the worlds of internatonal finance, politics, academia, arts and media. It will be held in the ballroom of the Metropolitan Club in NYC. The event will generate considerable publicity and press coverage, and will provide a dignified, respectable avenue whereby a sponsor can exhibit its brand most effectively to the guests in attendance and wider audiences through the available channels of promotion. Sponsors will enjoy the following benefits:

• Formally introduced as Event Partner
• Acknowledgement as such on the agenda (with logo branding)
• Name and logo displayed prominently on all event banners
• Name and logo displayed prominently on event promotion literature
• Name and logo displayed on official invitations
• Name, logo and link displayed on HSC website for 6 months
• Consultation in the preparation of the guestlist
• Opportunity to include 800-word piece of corporate text and partner logo in the delegate pack
• Mentioned as Event Partner in pre- and post-event press releases
• Logo displayed appropriately in press releases
• Quote by sponsor representative in press releases
• Use of HSC logo in partner’s sponsorship and communication tools
• Ample press coverage
• Promotion of sponsor on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube)

Dwayne Menezes

Human Security Centre (HSC) is a London-based international, independent think-tank that seeks to address current and emerging threats to human security. It does so both through the traditional means available to a think-tank, such as policy reports and advice, and innovative means, such as film and technology.  

Along with the Fathom Film Group, HSC will host a pre-Emmy Award luncheon and film screening of their Oscar-shortlisted, Emmy-nominated film My Enemy, My Brother for over 100 guests at the Metropolitan Club in NYC on 19 September 2016. The event will bring together leading lights of the American, British and Canadian film and television industries, as well as the worlds of international finance, politics, academia, arts and journalism, ahead of the official Emmy Award ceremony at Jazz at the Lincoln Center in NYC on 21 September 2016. The hosts are happy to welcome event sponsors whose values and stature would fit well with those of the hosts and the event.  

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