Absolument Jolie

'My children look up to her!' Angelina Jolie and kids join primatologist Jane Goodall at documentary premiere

Details: Published on Thursday, 12 October 2017 03:24; Written by Daily mail

Jane Goodall was a 26-year-old secretary with just a high school education when she was sent to Africa to study chimpanzees in their native habitat.Nearly sixty years later, newly uncovered original footage of the English scientist's years in the African bush has been turned into a fascinating new documentary by Brett Morgen.And Angelina Jolie and her children were there to support her longtime friend, as the film about the famed primatologist premiered at the Hollywood Bowl on Monday night.Never one to miss an educational opportunity, the well connected actress turned director brought along her four youngest children to meet Dame Goodall.Shiloh, Zahara, Knox and Vivien looked delighted to meet the 83-year-old, who remains a committed activist and spends her life travelling the world to educate people about the importance of conservation.Speaking at the event, Angelina said Jane was an inspiration to her six children.'I am so happy to be here to support my friend, and the cause that she has given her whole adult life to — helping us understand nature and our place in it,' Angelina told People magazine.'And now calling on us all to really grasp that we don’t have unlimited time to save wildlife and the environment. When someone with all Jane’s wealth of experience and knowledge and wisdom tells us that, we really have to take notice.'The two met eight years ago when Angelina was cast as the primatologist in the film Jane's Journey, about her life. Both UN Ambassadors, they bonded and became firm friends.The new documentary, narrated by Jane herself, was created from 100 hours of newly discovered 16MM film footage, filmed back in 1962 by Hugo van Lawick.Van Lawick was employed by National Geographic to create the film record. He went on to marry Jane, and the two had one son before divorcing, but stayed close until his death in 2002. Speaking to the sell-out crowd at the Hollywood Bowl on Monday, Jane shared the message she has spent her life promoting.'I have a very important message to take around the world. Which is that we are destroying this planet. And we need to get together to try and make change,' she told the audience, who gave her a standing ovation.'The National Geographic has been helping me to spread this message around the world ever since 1962 when they sent Hugo van Lawick to Gombe [National Park in Tanzania] and he was the one whose films and still photographs took the story of Jane and the chimps into homes around America and then around the world.'She said she initially rolled her eyes at the idea of another movie about her life. 'I was persuaded. "Well Jane never mind, it's going to be another film but it will help spread the message." So I agreed.'She said she was told her involvement would require just three hours of interviews.'We met for the first time out in Tanzania and it didn't work out quite like that. I met him [director Brett] and he started this interview. It lasted for two, two and a half days.'Brett, known for films such as Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck, interjected: 'The first thing I asked Jane was "Do you get tired of telling your story."'And she looked at me and said "It depends who's asking the questions."' To laughter, the pair introduced the film.

source : Daily mail

Angelina Jolie reportedly involved in plot to bust warlord Joseph Kony

Details: Published on Sunday, 08 October 2017 14:15; Written by Page Six

The former chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court had a thing for celebrities — once asking activist actress Angelina Jolie to play the role of a “honey trap’’ in a real-life attempt to arrest a notorious African warlord, a published report said Saturday.The Sunday Times of London said loopy lawman Luis Moreno Ocampo also tried to recruit film stars George Clooney and Sean Penn in his international crusades.The startling information was leaked by the court to the French Web Site Mediapart and made available to the British newspaper.Moreno Ocampo approached Jolie about five years ago — and even tried to cast her husband, Brad Pitt, as a co-star — in a stranger-than-fiction plot to take Ugandan Joseph Kony into custody in the Central African Republic, where he was based.“Forget other celebrities, she is the one,” Moreno Ocampo wrote in an e-mail. “She loves to arrest Kony. She is ready. Probably Brad will go also.”Moreno Ocampo wanted to embed Jolie, and hopefully Pitt, with US Special Forces close to Kony’s stronghold, according to the report.Jolie wrote Moreno Ocampo at one point. “Brad is being supportive. Let’s discuss logistics. Much love Xxx.”Moreno Ocampo claimed Jolie had suggested she could lure Kony to dinner as a ruse to arrest him, the report said.American troops, he told her, “are eager to get Kony . . . [and] after meeting you, they will do it.”Moreno Ocampo had his own fixation on Jolie. The prosecutor, who won only one case in his nine-years on the court, was ultimately even less successful with Jolie.At one point he sent her an e-mail: “Dear Angie, I hope you are well. I miss you.” It went unanswered.When he heard she was ill, he sent an e-mail to her assistant confessing: “I realize how much I love her.” The assistant replied Jolie had changed her e-mail address.Moreno Ocampo made still less headway with Clooney and Penn.He asked Clooney for help flying spy satellites over Libya “to put pressure on Khadafy’s generals.’’ Moreno Ocampo also invited Penn to a New York hotel, and tried to involve the star in a potential investigation into the Palestinian conflict. The ever-flip Penn responded, “While you make the decision on Palestine, I’m embroiled in a decision weather [sic] or not to get a steam in the hotel spa.’’

source : Page Six

Angelina Jolie dons brown pencil skirt to meet with UN Secretary General António Guterres in NYC

Details: Published on Friday, 15 September 2017 11:40; Written by Daily mail

Following the Toronto Film Festival premiere of her fifth directorial effort, Angelina Jolie met with United Nations Secretary General António Guterres at the Manhattan headquarters on Thursday.The Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees easily defied her 41 years in a white silk blouse, brown pencil skirt, and nude pumps selected by stylist Jen Rade.Hairstylist Adam Campbell blew out the Oscar winner's naturally brunette locks and she finished off her business attire with diamond earring and a crimson pout and manicure.Rather than taking vacuous selfies or developing clothing lines, Angelina has made over 60 trips to the field as part of her work with the do-gooding intergovernmental organization.On Wednesday, Jolie gave an update on her tough divorce from estranged third husband Brad Pitt after 12 years together. 'None of it's easy. It's very, very difficult, a very painful situation, and I just want my family healthy,' the By the Sea director admitted to the New York Times.'They're getting better.'The former Hollywood wild child's big blended brood - including Zahara, 12; Shiloh, 11; and twins Vivienne & Knox, 9 - attended the TIFF premiere of First They Killed My Father on Monday.It currently holds a 76 percent critic approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 70 percent approval rating on MetaCritic, and a 6.7/10 on IMDb.The Khmer-language drama - which begins streaming Friday on Netflix - is based on human rights activist Loung Ung's 2006 memoir about the 2M lives lost during the Cambodian genocide 40 years ago.Angelina's 16-year-old son Maddox (born Rath Vibol) received an executive-producing credit for the film and her 13-year-old son Pax shot still photography for it.'They really help me so much. We're really such a unit,' Jolie gushed.'They're the best friends I've ever had. Nobody in my life has ever stood by me more.'Earlier this month, the Kung Fu Panda 3 actress confirmed she would soon begin production on the sequel to the hit Disney villain origin story Maleficent.'I am now the breadwinner for the family so it’s time,' Angie told Deadline on September 3.'We have been working on the script and this is going to be a really strong sequel.'But first, Jolie executive-produced the Afghanistan-set animated feature The Breadwinner, which hits US theaters November 17 and UK theaters May 25.Nora Twomey's flick, based on the 2001 novel by Deborah Ellis, centers on a headstrong girl who disguises herself as a boy to provide for her family after her father gets arrested.

source : Daily mail

Angelina Jolie tells starstruck schoolchildren to 'fight for universal human rights'... as they lend support to Grenfell Tower survivors

Details: Published on Wednesday, 28 June 2017 04:30; Written by Daily mail

She acts as UNHCR Special Envoy and harnesses her global fame in Hollywood to help child refugees in war torn countries of the world.And actress and philanthropist Angelina Jolie, 42, has spoken up at a performance by more than 600 children as part of a project between world human rights organisation Amnesty International and Chickenshed Theatre.Held at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday night, the event saw the beauty urge schoolchildren to fight for universal human rights for children all over the world.Angelin shared her message via a video clip which was played out to the audience.'Children, I need you,' she said. 'We all need you. We adults, we are a little lost these days, we want you to think that we have it all under control, that it will all be fine. And it will be,' she began.'The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; it’s like your secret book of laws. And if you can master it, no one can trick you, or your friends. And you can take those laws and rights and go head on with those adults who won’t listen.'With the power of not only what is right and fair, but what is law, you can fight back. And as you grow up, you will have the tools to protect yourselves and to defend others.'It means you can grow up to be citizens who together can complete the work that my generation will leave unfinished and fight for universal human rights for all children.'Angelina is famed for her humanitarian work; she first witnessed the effects of a humanitarian crisis when she was in Cambodia filming the 2001 film Tomb Raider.She has since visited war-torn countries all over the world, such as Sudan's Darfur region and Syria, with the aim of bringing awareness of humanitarian plight to public knowledge.The Tomb Raider star has adopted three of her six children; Maddox, Zahara and Pax were adopted from orphanages in Cambodia, Ethiopia and Vietnam respectively.The children's performance at the Royal Albert Hall was based on Amnesty’s children’s book Dreams Of Freedom, which celebrates the words of human rights heroes such as Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama and Malala Yousafzai.During the performance, children shared their own messages of freedom and solidarity starting with 'I stand with…'. ollowing the recent tragedy at Grenfell Tower, many of the children changed their line to 'I stand with Grenfell' in support of all those affected. Chickenshed is a charity that makes inspirational theatre by bringing together people from all backgrounds to produce performances that entertains, inspires, and informs both audiences and participants.The children taking part in the performance are from London schools in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Westminster, Wandsworth and Enfield. Additional schools and children’s groups have also been involved in the creation of the performance over a period of two years.Amnesty International is the world’s largest human rights organisation with more than seven million supporters worldwide.

source : Daily Mail

Angelina Jolie Addresses United Nations to Praise Nigerian Lawyer Who Has Helped Educate and Feed Orphans

Details: Published on Thursday, 05 October 2017 05:24; Written by People

Just weeks after the New York City premiere of her Netflix war movie First They Killed My Father, Angelina Jolie donned her humanitarian hat to send a taped message to Nigerian mediator Zannah Mustapha, who she praised as an “inspiration.” Appearing on camera Monday to address the United Nation’s prestigious Nansen Refugee Award in Geneva, Switzerland, Jolie added that Mustupha – who has provided free schools for children in an area blighted by Islamic fundamentalists, Boko Haram – possessed “extraordinary” courage.“Zannah Mustapha runs his school in the midst of the Boko Harem insurgency in Nigeria,” said Jolie in the video. “In the teeth of brutal conflict in which schools and school children are deliberately targeted, the courage it takes to defend children’s rights to education in the face of Boko Haram is extraordinary.“Mustapha has brought light to a region that has been terrorized for years. He has made his community stronger. Girls and boys, who might otherwise have been lost, now feel that they have a future.”Earlier in her speech, Jolie, 42, provided a glimpse of the sights she has seen through her own eyes while working as a Special Rapporteur for the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), which has seen the Oscar winner highlight the causes of refugees in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.“There is nothing more important in the life of any person than the chance to have an education, yet millions of children have their education disrupted by war,” added Jolie. “I have seen the impact this has on young refugees: denying them a safe place to study and play; taking their dreams away from them; limiting their possibilities to work and making them even more vulnerable.” In Zannah Mustapha’s case this has seen him create two school in Maiduguri, Nigeria – the heartland of a Boko Haram insurgency that has killed 20,000 and displaced millions more. Along with free education, free meals, uniforms and health care, Mustapha welcomes orphaned children from both sides of the conflict into his classrooms in the hope that it will encourage the warring parties to reconcile.Mustapha also previously brokered a deal between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government that resulted in the release of more than 100 kidnapped Chibok girls. Most recently, he rehoused 800 displaced families on his own land, providing them a water source to grow crops and become self-sustainable.“This school promotes peace. It is a place where every child matters,” Mustapha said upon receiving the award on Monday. “These children shall be empowered, empowered in such a way that they can stand on their own.” Jolie, added, “Mr. Mustapha, you are an inspiration. I hope this award will encourage you and others to continue this vital work.”

source : People

UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie in Nairobi, appeals for child refugees

Details: Published on Thursday, 29 June 2017 10:28; Written by UNHCR

           UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie marked World Refugee Day 2017 visiting adolescent refugee girls in Nairobi.Ms. Jolie met around 200 refugee girls, who are unaccompanied or separated from their parents and are now living in the Heshima Kenya Safe House and participating in a Girls’ Empowerment Project.The girls have fled extreme violence or persecution in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi, and Rwanda. Almost all have suffered sexual and gender-based violence, robbing them of their childhoods. Many have given birth after being raped, or are pregnant. They told the Special Envoy about their personal stories and their lives today.
           Angelina Jolie said:“Over half of all refugees and displaced people worldwide are women and children. How we treat them is a measure of our humanity as nations. On World Refugee day my only ask is that people consider the pain and suffering of young girls like these. Not only have they had to flee extreme violence or persecution, lost everything and witnessed the death of family members, but they have also had to face so much abuse and intolerance and hardship. They are doing their best to carry on, with minimal support trying to live lives on dignity against impossible odds. It was an honour to spend the day with them.”
           It was Angelina Jolie’s third visit to Kenya, home to nearly 491,000 refugees from neighbouring Somalia, South Sudan, DRC, Burundi and other countries in the region. Most of the 67,000 urban refugees in Kenya struggle to survive on handouts from UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations, and many are struggling to recover from horrifying abuse and terror endured before or during their flight.Among the refugees in Kenya are 101,713 from South Sudan, which has now become the biggest new factor in global forced displacement after the disastrous break-up of peace efforts in July 2016 contributed to an outflow of 737,400 people by the end of the year.The Special Envoy said: “Kenya hosts close to half a million refugees and we at UNHCR are very grateful to the people and government of Kenya for that.”In all, Heshima Kenya’s Girls’ Empowerment Project helps some 200 refugee girls, including those in the Safe House. They are provided with education, and training in a variety of skills to enable them to become self-reliant.Benedict, who oversees the Heshima Kenya programme, described his motivation in helping the refugees: “When I see them, I don’t see refugees, I see human beings who are suffering not out of choice but because of circumstances beyond their control.”With the option of resettlement scarce, Heshima Kenya focuses on helping the refugees to fully integrate within the Kenyan community. This approach is also being championed by UNHCR and its partners in international talks that aim to forge a new Global Compact on Refugees next year.“When you empower them, you bring them dignity,” Benedict said. “They don’t need to rely on anyone. The Kenyan government can also start to appreciate them – as taxpayers, employers and consumers with purchasing power.”

source : UNHCR

Envoy Angelina Jolie urges better treatment of refugees

Details: Published on Wednesday, 21 June 2017 04:07; Written by Star Tribune

Actress and U.N. refugee agency special envoy Angelina Jolie on Tuesday denounced the impunity with which rape is committed in conflict zones and the mistreatment of vulnerable women and children.Jolie spoke in Kenya to mark World Refugee Day. She visited a training center on how to prevent sexual violence in conflict and met with refugees from conflicts in Burundi, South Sudan, Somalia and Congo."The reality is that women and girls as well as boys and men can still be raped with near-total impunity in conflict zones around the world, and there are still appalling cases of rape and mistreatment of vulnerable women, children and men by peacekeepers sent to protect them," she said.Jolie added: "The horror of sexual violence is compounded when it is carried out by someone in uniform who has a taken an oath to protect."The way people treat refugees, the majority of who are women and children, is a measure of humanity, she said, according to a statement by the U.N. refugee agency."Not only have they had to flee extreme violence or persecution, lost everything and witnessed the death of family members, but they have also had to face so much abuse and intolerance and hardship. They are doing their best to carry on with minimal support, trying to live lives of dignity against impossible odds," Jolie said.Kenya is home to nearly 491,000 refugees from conflicts in neighboring countries. A Kenyan court recently stopped the government from closing what had been the world's largest refugee camp, Dadaab, and sending more than 200,000 people back to Somalia. The court said the government had not proved Somalia is safe for refugees to return.

source : Star Tribune