Henry Dunant, Red on the cross

Based on the life of Henri Dunant.

Directed by Dominique Orthenin-Girard.

With Thomas Jouannet, Emilie Dequenne,Michel Galabru

Genre: Biography/ Drama / History/ War

Country: Algeria / Austria / France / Switzerland(2006)

Sunday, March 15 at 5.00 pm

Alliance Française, 427 Lovett Boulevard,Houston, TX 77006

Sponsored by The Honorary Consul of Switzerland

Reception following the screening. No entry charge.

An epic movie based on the lifeof idealist Swiss-born Henri Dunant in his fight for the creation of the Red Cross and Red crescent.

First Nobel Peace Price, Henri Dunant was a humanist and visionary who led an insane campaign to convince nations to allow a relief society to take care of the wounded, regardless of their nationality.

The plot:

Henry Dunant, son of a Geneva francophone upper class bourgeoisie family, works for a Swiss exploitation company in French Algeria; when the colonists are thirsty, he returns determined to convince the firm and Emperor Napoleon III to build a dam for them. On his way to see the emperor, Henry gets stuck in Castiglione.

His letters home, published in Geneva described the unprecedented shocking first-hand truth about cruelty of war, started enough public commotion for his eventual plans to materialize in the form of the now worldwide indispensable, strictly neutral humanitarian last resort for all in need:  the International Red Cross; It was named after the symbol Dunant devised by painting in blood the Christian symbol French and Austrians had in common as Catholic nations in order to safely evacuate from Castiglione.

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