"Lets get to what I really would like, which is world peace. And, I know what youre thinking — youre thinking "that poor girl up there, she thinks shes at a beauty pageant, shes not, shes at the TED prize"… but I really do think it makes sense. And the first step to world peace is for people to meet each other."
Pangea Day is an international multimedia event conducted on May 10, 2008. Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro were linked to produce a 4-hour program of films, music, and speakers. The program was broadcast live across the globe from 1800 to 2200 UTC, culminating in a global drum circle, symbolizing the common heartbeat of the world. According to the festival organizers,
"A project like Pangea, which enables us to enter in to the situations of others, imaginatively, is fulfilling what the religions call the Golden Rule... going into ones own experience, and going into others experience, and seeing the world from another perspective — thats what we desperately need in our dangerously polarized world."
"In this age images are powerful. Powerful enough to divide, to spread fear, to remove hope. Powerful enough to unite, to build trust, to inspire action. Until now images of the many have been held in the hands of the few. Finally that is changing. Millions of people around the world are telling their own stories. For the first time in history we have the chance to see the world differently, to see it through the eyes of the other."
"I wish to bring the world together for one day a year through the power of film."
"We need to understand each other better — because we all share the same planet — and we only have one of them."
"I am doing this because it is a great idea — to realize the language of film is so beautiful, and very personal — the most beautiful films of all are made from the heart the soul and beyond — and that is why I want to be a part of Pangea..."