Celebrities are taking a public stance to support the #WithRefugees campaign.
On Monday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released a video featuring several actors including Cate Blanchett, Keira Knightley, Kit Harington and Jesse Eisenberg, performing a powerful spoken word poem entitled, "What They Took With Them."
The video, posted on Facebook, aims to call attention to the more than 65 million refugees across the world who were forced to leave their lives behind due to violence.
SEE ALSO:This pink crocheted house was created by refugees as a beautiful symbol of hopeAccording to UNHCR, the poem written by Jenifer Toksvig, which captures the tragic journey endured by displaced refugees, was "inspired by stories and first-hand testimonies from refugees forced to flee their homes and the items they took with them."
Blanchett, the UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, along with actors Keira Knightley, Juliet Stevenson, Peter Capaldi, Stanley Tucci, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kit Harington, Douglas Booth, Jesse Eisenberg and writer Neil Gaiman, gathered together to read the moving piece of poetry, which was recorded and spliced together with compelling images and text.
As explained on the UNHCR website, Blanchett immediately thought Toksvig's words carried such an extreme weight to them. "As soon as I read Jenifer Toksvig’s poem, and even more so after I took part in an early performance of it, I was struck by its immense power," she said. "The rhythm and words of the poem echo the frenzy and chaos and terror of suddenly being forced to leave your home, grabbing what little you can carry with you, and fleeing for safety."
Refugee images and accounts from photographer Brian Sokol's project entitled, "The Most Important Thing," which was made in collaboration with UNHCR, accompany the celebrity voiceovers.
"... As a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, I believe the very least each of us can do is work together to ensure refugees have the basics with which to build back their lives -- an education, somewhere safe to live, the ability to work," Blanchett added.
The film was made to inspire viewers to sign the #WithRefugees petition, which will help ensure refugees are given basic essentials needed to rebuild their lives, such as education, shelter and employment. The petition is set to be delivered to UN headquarters ahead of the UN General Assembly high-level summit on Sept.19.
As of Monday afternoon, 937,433 people have signed the petition.
TopicsFacebookSocial GoodUnited Nations
(责任编辑:探索)
Pole vaulter claims his penis is not to blame
This dog takes the word 'retriever' to another level
Donald Trump's 'pee tape' controversy, explained
Flippy the burger
Honda's allMichael Phelps says goodbye to the pool with Olympic gold
Michael Phelps left as he began: Winning.。The most decorated athlete in Olympic history won gold in
...[详细]Police use Apple Watch health data as evidence in murder case
Your smartphone knows plenty about you, and it's that health data that's apparently been key to solv
...[详细]Did Scott Kelly's DNA change in space? The answer isn't so simple
If a flurry of news coverage is to be believed, a year in space can really wreak havoc on your DNA.A
...[详细]Lyft Business partnerships keep growing, but Uber still dominates for business travelers
The rivalry between Lyft and Uber isn't letting up anytime soon. The two ride-hailing apps keep a cl
...[详细]Florida hurricane forecast remains uncertain, but trends in state's favor
For days, a war has been raging between two of the premiere computer models used to help predict the
...[详细]Marvel is going to make a sequel to 'Black Panther.' Obviously.
In today's least surprising news, Marvel is going to make a sequel to Black Panther.Kevin Feige, pre
...[详细]
It's not just Uber and Waymo racing to put self-driving cars on the road. Ride-hailing app Lyft has
...[详细]Millie Bobby Brown reps March For Our Lives at Kids' Choice Awards
Millie Bobby Brown, your favorite actor from the hit Netflix show Stranger Things, backed March For
...[详细]Olympics official on Rio's green diving pool: 'Chemistry is not an exact science'
The diving pool for the Summer Olympics mysteriously turned green this week in Rio de Janeiro, then
...[详细]People are really jazzed about 'Lumines' coming to Switch. Why?
The latest "Nindies" showcase from Nintendo highlighted a whole mess of upcoming Switch releases, bu
...[详细]Darth Vader is back. Why do we still care?

The best (and weirdest) of Craigslist's missed connections
