Ten years of battle to make adopt by the United Nations, a worldwide day of peace and cease- fire in the stricken zones of our planet, around the date of September 21st. Once upon a time there was this man, Jeremy Gilley…

In the country of Human rights, in Paris more precisely, Jeremy Gilley, an ex-actor and film director, decided to pull out all the stops to celebrate ten years of his work and to remind us of the importance of this date : September 21st, voted by the United Nations from September, 2001, at a crucial moment of human history.

On Saturday September 19th, 2009, the Dior dresses and tuxedos invaded therefore the Grand Rex, for a very British concert, with rock stars and cinema’s people, from both sides of the Channel, including a swarm of photographers and cameramen in the press-room.

Jeremy Gilley, playing perfectly his role of host, accompanied each of his famous « Guests » (among them: Ayo, Keziah Jones, Kasabian, Charlie Winston, Olivia Ruiz, Saul Williams, and Lenny Kravitz) for the traditional session of photocall and gave some improvised interviews..

The French ambassador of this party was the glamorous actress Elsa Zylberstein who succeeded to the British actor Jude Law, kept in New York to play Hamlet on the mythical stage of Broadway.

Indeed, the previous year, the British actor had a determining media role for this association, by going to Afghanistan with Jeremy Gilley to notice the next conditions of cease- fire planned for the 21st September, in this particularly stricken region, touched by war and violence.

And, during ten years, the Peace One Day association did not only create this official date in the UN’s calendar, but also developed a huge work of communication, implying VIP’s support (Angelina Jolie, Lenny Kravitz, Jude Law) and important sponsors (Coca extract Cola, Puma, Dior). And the results are now concrete in the domains of education, football and cinema.

A documentary The Day After Peace, directed by Jeremy Gilley and shown just before the concert, has been broadcasted, at an worldwide scale on September 21st, on French TV (Canal Plus), as well as on the Internet (on the official site of the assoc’, translated in six official languages of the United Nations), but also on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc…

With the collaboration of UNICEF, this year again, thousands of children has been able to be vaccinated, in regions really difficult of access such as in Afghanistan or in Africa. In 2007, for instance, the Talibans let the organizers of UNICEF penetrate the most dangerous zones of the country.

This day of peace is above all for his founder, Jeremy Gilley, « a starting point « . Just a starting point for an indefinitely moment of Peace…

Copyrights: Laetitia Heurteau et Mireille Ampilhac.