Screening
of “Bringing Down a Dictator”
Speaking
notes for the Hon. David Kilgour
Secretary
of State (Asia Pacific)
EPCOR Centre
for the Performing Arts
Calgary
June 25,
2002
Merci d’être
venu, tous et toutes! Si vous croyez que
j’ai dormi dans mes pantalons, vous
avez raison. Je viens d’arriver de
Jakarta via Frankfurt et Montréal.
C’est complètement fou!
Chancellor
Warren, Peter Ackerman, Jack Duvall, Steve
York, ladies and gentlemen.
You're about
to see a remarkable story. Perhaps because
of the lack of violence involved, it's one
that not a lot of people know about.
Instead of
using guns and explosions, the protagonists
use peaceful resistance, solidarity,
humour,
and patience - hardly the ingredients for
a ‘Sum of All Fears-type’ summer
blockbuster! Instead of starting a conflict
that left behind a path of death and destruction,
they began a process that had great value
in itself.
Il s’agit
d’une douzaine d’étudiants
qui ont commencé un mouvement non-violent
en Serbie qui a fait tomber Slobodan
Milosovic.
Les leçons sont toutefois
universelles.
The plot
centers around how a group of about a dozen
students in Serbia started an apolitical,
peaceful movement that resulted in the ultimate
downfall of Slobodan Milosovich. The lessons
conveyed, however, are universal.
Canada has
pushed Africa to the top of the Summit's
agenda - and kept it there throughout the
course of a year like no other. We want
to see an Africa capable of reaching its
immense potential: where democracy, good
governance, and adherence to the rule of
law are the norm, and where hunger and disease
- surtout la pandémie du SIDA - are
stopped effectively.
We've thrown
our support behind NEPAD because we believe
in its premise that the future of Africa
must be decided by Africans themselves.
The type
of fundamental change leaders are advocating
won't happen solely as a result of this
Summit. The deeply rooted, lasting prosperity
we're seeking will not so much be designed
from the top down as it will be built from
the ground up - as in Botswana.
"Bringing
Down a Dictator" tells of how the process
of mobilizing love for one’s country
and will for freedom resulted in the coming
together of thousands of people who had
never taken part in Serbia's political process
then came together to form the backbone
of a strong, stable democracy. This is the
vision many Africans have for their continent’s
54 nations.
Le film donne
de l’espoir aux activistes non-violents
partout dans le monde. Cette œuvre
transmet un message clair : la société
civile de tous les pays doit être
une plus grande force.
Participants
in the G6B and peaceful protesters have
a major role to play in the progress of
democratic societies- and their ideas deserve
to be heard. Too often civil society's valuable
contributions and reasonable voices are
overshadowed by photo opportunities of anarchists
and anticipations of violent protesters
who most often represent only a small portion
of activists. I hope that this will not
be the case this year.
Thanks to
all the organizers and participants of the
G6B, and congratulations to the participants
of this film for having the courage to live
this story, and to the producers and supporters
for having the faith that we would want
to see it.
Hope you
enjoy the film.
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