Film screening "Carne de Perro"

Ambassador Maurás,
Mr. Guzzoni,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great pleasure to welcome you all on behalf of the Cultural Activities Committee of the United Nations Office at Geneva to the screening of the Chilean film “Carne de Perro”.
A warm thank you to Ambassador Maurás and the team in the Permanent Mission of Chile for organizing the screening of this thought-provoking and important film here at the Palais des Nations.

A warm welcome and a big thank you also go to the talented director, Mr. Fernando Guzzoni, who is here with us tonight. We are pleased also that he has kindly agreed to answer questions and engage with the audience after the screening.
It is now my privilege to deliver a message on behalf of the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mr. Michael Møller, who very much regrets that he cannot be here with you today.

The message goes as follows:

“A very warm welcome to you all to the film screening of “Carne de Perro” – Dog Flesh - which is the feature debut by the young Chilean writer-director Fernando Guzzoni, who we are pleased to have here with us today. “Carne de Perro” has garnered a host of important accolades from film festivals worldwide, such as the prestigious Ingmar Bergman Award at the Götenburg International Film Festival in 2013. For his directorial debut, Mr. Guzzoni won the New Directors’ prize at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, the most important film festival in Spain.

I would like to thank Ambassador Maurás and the Permanent Mission of Chile for promoting Chilean culture in International Geneva, and for sharing this powerful film with us here today. One of the great values of International Geneva is the promotion of the rich cultural heritage and diversity of all actors present here, including youth. Mr. Guzzoni was not even 30 years old when he wrote and directed “Carne de Perro”, a film which illustrates a very difficult topic to discuss – torture – an unacceptable and unjustifiable act under any circumstance. Yet, Mr. Guzzoni had the maturity and the courage to look beyond what is socially acceptable to discuss and show both sides of the coin, by painting a vivid picture of a former torturer.

The United Nations Convention against Torture, a historic treaty in which nations agreed to end torture, is the only legally binding instrument at the international level concerned exclusively with the eradication of torture. However, despite this impressive legal framework, many people continue to be victims of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment throughout the world.

Some progress is being made, and Chile has been a leader in ensuring the ratification of the Convention against Torture. The current Chair of the Committee against Torture, Mr. Claudio Grossman of Chile, has made great efforts towards the prevention of this horrendous practice. Additionally, in March last year, the Governments of Chile, Denmark, Ghana, Indonesia and Morocco launched the Convention against Torture Initiative, a 10 year global initiative for the universal ratification and implementation of the Convention against Torture. I take the opportunity to commend this wonderful initiative and encourage its diffusion across borders. We must do more as a society, politically and socially, in order to abolish the abhorrent practice of torture in all its forms.

Mr. Guzzoni, thank you for the timely and necessary foray into this dark side of humanity. I sincerely hope that the film tonight gives food for thought, and leaves each and every one of us with the much needed impetus to take action, in any form and measure we can.

Thank you very much.”

That was the end of the Director-General’s message.

Thank you and enjoy!