“The Quiet Diplomat” is a feature documentary film-in-the-making about former Secretary General Ban and the future of the United Nations.

The arc of SG Ban’s life has been remarkable. Born just one year before the United Nations itself, Ban was six years old when he and his family were displaced due to the Korean War. The UN literally saved his life. Being part of such an organization became a life calling.

But this documentary film is larger than the transformational arc of a single man’s life: his life offers a time capsule of a period in history marked by a brutal clash between multi-national and unilateralist approaches to governing — and an opportunity to question the value of the United Nations today.

Trailer, here:

https://vimeo.com/799948545?share=copy

I produced coverage of the 2022 Brazilian election, along with correspondent Jane Ferguson and cameraman/ editor Eric O’Connor, that also featured two long-form reports on deforestation and indigenous rights supported through a grant by the Pulitzer Center.

During the pandemic, I produced a two-part series in Brazil, with crucial funding from and as a grantee of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Prior to that, I served as Executive Producer at Climate Central, where I produced a series about climate change, “States of Changes,” for and with PBS NewsHour.

I was a contributing writer to The New York Times’ Arts & Leisure section and have published in other parts of the paper, including: NYT Magazine (LIVES), Arts, Business, Sunday Review (2), and WELL.

In addition, I’ve written for such outlets as The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the LA Times, the Brazilian Report, Amazon Aid Foundation, and was a staff reporter/ columnist for Variety.

Here are links to some of my articles (in some cases cowritten):

Can blockchain clean up the gold industry in Brazil and across the globe?

https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/can-blockchain-clean-up-the-gold-industry-in-brazil-and-across-the-globe/

Six months on, the Yanomami crisis continues amid rising violence

https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/six-months-on-the-yanomami-crisis-continues-amid-rising-violence/

For some Colombians, vows of Mining Reform are just a Flash in the Pan (co-written with Charlie Espinosa, February 20, 2023)

https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/for-some-colombians-vows-of-mining-reform-are-just-a-flash-in-the-pan/

Can Two New Bills Reshape Indigenous Rights and Illegal Gold Mining in Suriname? (with Charlie Espinosa, Sept 14, 2022)

https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/can-two-new-bills-reshape-indigenous-rights-and-illegal-gold-mining-in-suriname/

In Roraima, Nothing is as it Seems (Amazon Aid) (November 6, 2021)

https://amazonaid.org/in-roraima-nothing-is-as-it-seems/

The Brazilian Report: Is Covid-19 Accelerating a Genocide of Brazil’s Indigenous People? (June 14, 2020)

https://brazilian.report/society/2020/06/14/coronavirus-accelerating-genocide-brazil-indigenous-people/

Arnold Ventures: Covid-19 Reveals Fissures in the Nation’s Prescription Drug Supply Chain (April 20, 2020)

https://www.arnoldventures.org/stories/covid-19-reveals-fissures-in-the-nations-prescription-drug-supply-chain

IndieWire: Netflix Documentary ‘The Edge of Democracy’ Makes Headlines as Jailed Subject is Released in Brazil (Nov 20, 2019)

https://www.indiewire.com/2019/11/the-edge-of-democracy-netflix-lula-da-silva-released-1202190148/

IndieWire: Slamdance is 25 Years Old and Sill Retains the Spirit of an Unruly Teenager (January 24, 2019)

https://www.indiewire.com/2019/01/slamdance-25th-anniversary-sundance-independent-film-1202037567/

For Yale360: Belo Monte - Conflict in the Amazon (video and print)

https://e360.yale.edu/features/video_belo_monte_dam_conflict_in_the_brazilian_amazon

NYT: Suicides Spread Through a Brazilian Tribe

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/opinion/sunday/suicides-spread-through-a-brazilian-tribe.html

NYT: The Dam Boom in the Amazon

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/opinion/sunday/the-dam-boom-in-the-amazon.html?login=email

NYT Magazine A Failure of Happiness (LIVES column)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/magazine/lives-a-failure-of-happiness.html

NYT: Polanski and the Man Who Judged Him

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/arts/17iht-polanski.3187184.html

NYT (WELL): Lessons From a Marathon Not Run

https://www.nytimes.com/search?query=lessons+on+a+marathon+not+run

NYT: Join a Revolution. Make Movies. Go Broke

https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/20/movies/join-a-revolution-make-movies-go-broke.html

NYT: Controversy Rules Oscar Contenders

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/03/movies/03docs.html

NYT: Sun Never Sets on Work of Ed Wood

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/movies/ed-woods-final-curtain-plays-at-slamdance.html

NYT: Hispanic Films Have Yet to Catch the Same Wave as Hispanic TV

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/28/movies/hispanic-films-have-yet-to-catch-the-same-wave-as-hispanic-tv.html

NYT: After a Run of Penguin Chic, It’s the Year of the Meerkat

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/movies/17lyon.html

NYT: Sundance or Slamdance, a Rebel Director Gets His Pick

https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/20/movies/MoviesFeatures/sundance-or-slamdance-a-rebel-director-gets-his-pick.html

NYT: Filmmaker Says Distributor Failed Film

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/movies/26thin.html

Variety: Specialty Chiefs Bring Prestige to SONY

https://variety.com/2007/film/features/specialty-chiefs-bring-prestige-to-sony-1117971495/

WashPost: Dad, Reluctantly Upgrading to a Modern ‘Machine’

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2004/10/25/dad-reluctantly-upgrading-to-a-modern-machine/3fd5389b-85c1-48da-934d-83a69174ec34/

Variety (column): Today more than ever, film may be the answer

https://variety.com/2001/film/columns/today-more-than-ever-film-may-be-answer-1117852834/

NYT: Is Success Seducing the Rebel Festival?

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/07/movies/film-is-success-seducing-the-rebel-festival.html

I was a regular contributing producer for United Nations-TV, making shorts, most related to human rights and the environment, in India, Brazil, and Japan.