New York -
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Hyundai Motor Company today, celebrated the world premiere of "for Tomorrow: The Documentary" at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, on the sidelines of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. The film, which also debuts on Amazon Prime and at the Fixing the Future festival in Barcelona this week, is narrated by actor Daisy Ridley (Star Wars) and shines the spotlight on inspirational local champions who are holding the answers to the most pressing global challenges of today.
Featuring five grassroots innovations from around the world, the film captures the vision and work of UNDP's Accelerator Labs, urging decision-makers to listen and learn from local voices and keep the promises made with the Sustainable Development Goals. Watch the trailer here: for Tomorrow | The Documentary | Official Trailer.
"The UNDP Accelerator Labs was born to be an epicenter of innovation, for a green, inclusive, sustainable future that was built bottom up from the everyday inventions and wisdom of the many, not the few. The stars of this film, these real-life heroes and grassroots innovators are proof that our "best world" is built on the daily, ground-zero choices that people are making now and here," said Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator.
Alongside Mr. Steiner, the premiere was attended by Ambassador Antje Leendertse, Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations, Ambassador Hyunjoo Oh, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations, Vice President of Brand Experience at the Hyundai Motor Company, Sungwon Jee, and Rwodah Alnaimi from the Qatar Fund for Development.
"Minds on the margin are not marginal minds," said Professor Anil Gupta, founder of Honey Bee Network and one of the innovators featured in the documentary. "Honoring creative people at their doorstep makes a big difference. I'm convinced that if we want inclusive development, we should encourage diversity and we should also encourage difference of opinion, difference of views, difference in the ways we solve problems."
From Azerbaijan, India, Peru, Sierra Leone and Viet Nam, the five innovators, supported by the UNDP Accelerator Labs, design frugal, home-grown solutions in their communities. From Trinh Thi Hong in Viet Nam, who saw mountains of waste in her neighborhood and created a soap-making business that employs over 400 people, to Emmanuel Alie Mansaray in Sierra Leone, who imagined a world with sustainable energy and built a solar-powered car from scrap to Jamila Mammadli, a wheelchair user who brought accessibility to the metro system in Baku, Azerbaijan, they show us glimpses of what a more sustainable future can look like.
