Guide Note

In February 2008, film director Steven Spielberg announced he was resigning as the artistic adviser for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

According to ABC News, former U.S. President Bill Clinton advised Spielberg to participate in the Beijing Olypmics so that he might be in a position to facilitate positive changes. Spielberg spent almost a year working with Chinese officials to negotiate with the Sudanese government to allow United Nations peacekeeping troops into the Darfur region.¹ Spielberg was not alone is his efforts; nine Nobel Peace laureates also urged Chinese President Hu Jintao to change his policy regarding the Sudan.²

Fast Facts

1. Steven Spielberg was the artistic consultant for the 2008 Olympics
2. The Chinese purchase more than 60% of Sudan's exports and sell weapons to the Sudanese government³
3. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) president, Jacques Rogge, said he respected Spielberg's decision to withdraw his participation⁴
4. Since 2003, approximately 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes in the Sudan region of Darfur⁵
5. Actress and Darfur activist Mia Farrow pressured Spielberg to withdraw his Olympic involvement in her March 28, 2007, Wall Street Journal op-ed piece¹

• "...(the Sudanese) government bears the bulk of the responsibility for these on-going crimes but the international community, and particularly China, should be doing more to end the continuing human suffering there."—Steven Spielberg¹