Persistence of Vision

Manhattan Magazine profiles MPI filmmaker and U.N. Me director Ami Horowitz:

Why is there a former Lehman Brothers investment banker running through Dag Hammarskjold Plaza with a battering ram? No, he's not some unhinged casualty of the current economic collapse. Ami Horowitz left behind his work in finance well before this recent mess because he had a higher calling: He wanted to lay siege to the United Nations, which he says is the perpetrator of one of the greatest frauds of all time.

Horowitz is hoping to be the the U.N. what Michael Moore was to General Motors. With no previous experience in the film business, but a fire in his belly and $2 million raised from hedge fund managers, Horowitz has made a documentary, U.N. Me, that is set to be released in theaters this winter.

The seeds of Horowitz's mission were sown during the September 11 attacks, when he was outraged by the United Nations' inefficacy. It wasn't until five years later though, that he had an epiphany while watching Moore's Bowling for Columbine: He would make a documentary that would expose the United Nations for how he saw it.

Two years later, the film is in the can. Emulating Moore's style, the camera shows an incredulous Horowitz wandering the halls of the United Nations, trying to find someone actually at work at their desk. He then travels the world, covering a range of the United Nations' failings, including its inability to prevent genocide in Rwanda and Sudan, and an accusation that former Secretary General Boutros-Ghali pocketed more than a million dollars from Saddam Hussein (Boutros-Ghali was never charged with any wrongdoing).

Horowitz interviews with an often jocular approach, and peppers the film with animation and even a "peacekeepers gone wild" segment, showing U.N. personnel in Africa partying with prostitutes at a club.

Throughout his dealing with the U.N., Horowitz told them he was making a film that "highlights the role of the U.N. around the globe," so the organization has been unaware of the barbarian at their gates. "We'll have to wait to see the film to respond," says a U.N. spokesperson.

But does Horowitz really think he can sway public opinion?

"Absolutely. [Super Size Me's Morgan] Spurlock was just a dude with a few thousand dollars and a camera--and look what he did to McDonalds," Horowitz says. "I'm similar. I'm just better dressed."