ambassador
Ambassador's Speech
REMARKS BY AMBASSADOR EARL ANTHONY WAYNE AT BUENOS AIRES PREMIER OF FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
Hoyts Abasto de Buenos Aires Complex Movie Theater
December 13, 2006
Estimados
• Funcionarios del gobierno argentino;
• Agregados extranjeros;
• Distinguidos invitados;
• Señor Steve Solot, Vice Presidente Ejecutivo para Latinoamerica del Motion Picture Association:
Ahora, permitanme continuar en ingles, para poder compartir con ustedes algunas palabras sobre esta excelente pelicula.
I would like to thank the Motion Picture Association, Warner Brothers and Hoyts theaters for working with the embassy to arrange this film debut in Buenos Aires.
[Pause]
I just wanted to add a note about intellectual property rights, something i have worked to promote for many years.
Innovation is the key to continued economic growth, and it’s in all of our interests that innovation be nourished and protected. a strong ipr regime encourages creativity and permits us to enjoy unprecedented breathroughs in science, medicine and the arts. This is not about us. It is about our young people and our children. Will they be able to create and to protect that creation?
A good set of laws and regulations to protect creative products is essential for the future of our knowledge economies and, if we get it right, it will create more and better jobs and opportunities for our youth. That is why it is not about getting a cheap dvd or cd or downloading a film for free. It is all about creating a vibrant future for argentina's future creators.
[Pause]
Let me turn now to tonight’s feature -- Flags of Our Fathers, which is a compelling account of the realities of war and its aftermath. It comments, sometimes darkly, on the concept of heroism and impact of celebrity.
Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. on February 19, 1945, U.S. Marines invaded the small but strategic japanese-held island of Iwo Jima. four days later, when Mount Surabachi was secured, five marines and a Navy corpsman raised the U.S. flag on its summit. ap photographer Joe Rosenthal was there to capture the moment in a photo that deservedly won the Pulitzer Prize.
The film we will see reminds us of the terrible features of this battle and of the sacrifices of the men who fought it.
It then shows the lives of the men in that famous photo, not all of whom survived the fighting on Iwo Jima. The movie intends to make us think about the concept of heroism and its sometimes uncomfortable realities.
Clint Eastwood decided to take an unprecedented move with this project. he made two movies about the same battle, in order to show it from both sides. Letters from Iwo Jima, the companion film to Flags of Our Fathers, depicts the battle from the japanese perspective. Both films are highly acclaimed. in fact, the film shot from the japanese point of view just received an award as the best movie of 2006 from the national board of review and the association of film critics of los angeles.
I thank you all for coming tonight.