Invictus

Feb 3rd, 2010 1:41 PM UTC
By David Cole

South African football captain Aaron Mokoena and ONE co-founder Bob Geldof at the screening of the film Invictus

On Monday night ONE was lucky to host an advance screening in London of the new film Invictus, which opens this month in much of Europe.

Directed by Clint Eastwood, Invictus tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) joined forces with the captain of South Africa’s rugby team, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) to help unite their country. Believing he could bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallied South Africa’s underdog rugby team as they made an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup final.

As the world’s attention turns to the continent this year for the football world cup, it’s time to unite once again to celebrate the successes we’ve achieved, and renew our energies to go the distance to achieve the rest of the Millenium Development Goals by 2015.

We were joined on the night by journalists, politicians, footballers, celebrities, and a lucky ONE member, Benjamin Palafox, who won our online contest.

After the film ONE co-founder Bob Geldof and South African football captain Aaron Mokoena, spoke passionately about the importance of this 2010 for Africa and how the world cup can focus the eyes of the world, including the 3 billion or more who will watch the competition, on the good news that’s coming from the continent.

Keep an eye on the ONE blog for video from the event, which we will be posting shortly.

P.S. To find out more about Invictus visit the the official movie website.

TAGS: 2010 World Cup, Bob Geldof, ONE, South Africa