Filmmaker Greg Barker Pays Homage to Humanitarian Sergio Vieira de Mello

A former war correspondent, journalist and filmmaker Greg Barker has been in some harrowing locations across the globe to get to the truth of the matter. His most recent work, the eye-opening documentary, Sergio, tells the story of the United Nations’ Sergio Vieira de Mello, an intensely charismatic master diplomat whom Barker describes as “the most important guy you’ve never heard of.” The go-to-guy for the world, Sergio Vieira de Mello was a compelling figure with movie star good looks often described as a “cross between James Bond and Bobby Kennedy.”

The first U.N. envoy to negotiate with Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge so 400,000 Cambodians could return home, in addition to stints in Bosnia and Croatia, as well as helping East Timor establish itself as an independent democracy, the Brazilian diplomat was a proven commodity in the field. So much so that he quickly became a target of Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden who declared him an enemy of Islam who deserved to die after his work in Indonesia.

Sergio Vieira de Mello was the target of a terrorist bombing attack on the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad in 2003 which resulted in his death, along with many others. Barker’s documentary is part bio-pic and part search & rescue drama focusing on the efforts of two U.S. soldiers at the scene.

“Sergio spoke to me on a lot of different levels,” Barker points out. “He was able to get things done in the world while keeping his ideals intact and also inhabit what I call the shades of gray between right and wrong; good and evil. He dealt with the bad guys and the good guys and the ambiguous guys, and still kept his soul intact. And keep in mind he was always working for the benefit of ordinary people who often find themselves in very traumatic and destitute situations. To me it was just an inspiring story.”

Via extremely poignant and dramatic on-camera interviews with the rescue workers, which included Vieira de Mello’s fiancée, as well as friends, family, and colleagues, Barker describes his interview sessions as “therapy,” noting they were “emotionally draining” for all involved.

Sergio, which had its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, will debut for audiences on HBO this May, but for now the powerful documentary has been short-listed as a possible nominee for this year’s Academy Award.

In a year when easily the best films released were documentaries (think Anvil, The Cove, Which Way Home, Food, Inc., and Under Our Skin for starters), Barker’s Sergio continues in the vein of quality filmmaking that must be seen. Soon to begin work on another documentary for HBO and the BBC, the filmmaker will only say, “It’s another feature documentary about messy parts of the world.” But for now he hopes Sergio’s message isn’t lost on viewers.

“It’s possible to engage with the complexities of this world and keep one’s ideals,” he says with conviction. “The most effective way of getting things done frequently involves dealing with people we don’t want to deal with, and it doesn’t mean we sacrifice our own ideals, but there’s a way of finding not so much common ground, but a way forward, through engaging with the world’s messiness and getting your hands dirty. That’s what Sergio was so good at. I hope people get the idea to go out in the world, get their hands dirty, and effect change while keeping their ideals intact.” ▼

For more information, please visit www.sergiothemovie.com.