NFB Collection
Triage: Dr. James Orbinski's Humanitarian Dilemma
200752 min 8 secFilm: Documentary
Direction: Patrick Reed
Production: Peter Raymont (White Pine Pictures)Silva Basmajian (National Film Board of Canada)
Produced by White Pine Pictures in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada, with the assistance of The Canadian International Development Agency and licensed for Canadian Television Broadcast by The CanWest Global TV Network.
The act of triage is the ultimate humanitarian nightmare. Racing against time
with limited resources, relief workers make split-second decisions: who gets
treatment; who gets food; who lives; who dies. This impossible dilemma
understandably haunts humanitarians like Dr. James Orbinski, who accepted the
1999 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as their
President, and was a field doctor during the Somali famine, the Rwandan
genocide, among other catastrophes.
Having seen the best and worst of humanitarian assistance and of
humanity itself, Orbinski embarks on his most difficult mission to date -
writing a deeply personal and controversial book that struggles to make sense
of it all.
Leaving his young family behind in Toronto, Canada - where he's a
university professor and doctor - Orbinski returns to Africa, revisiting the
past and engaging with the present. He hopes that here, in the place where he
witnessed humanity literally torn apart, he can rediscover the true heart of
humanitarianism.
Availability
Subject categories
- Developing Countries > AfricaFamine, Drought and Other DisastersForeign AidSocial Problems
- Health and Medicine > Developing CountriesPortraits
- Civics/Citizenship > Citizen Responsibilities
- Ethics and Religious Culture > Ethical Values
- History and Citizenship Education > Issues in Society Today
Credits
- director
- Patrick Reed
- producer
- Peter Raymont
- Silva Basmajian
- editor
- Michèle Hozer
- photography
- John Westheuser
- sound recording
- Ao Loo
- executive producer
- Silva Basmajian
- music
- Mark Korven
- production supervisor
- Janice Dawe
- production manager
- Norma Mendoza
- production coordinator
- Nida Marji
- Laura Blaney
- Michelle Latimer
- Julia Bennett
- Anita Corsini
- Brenda Darling
- Anousheh Showleh
- Michale Raske
- Lee Walker
- researcher
- Michelle Latimer
- additional photography
- Walter Corbett
- additional sound recording
- Peter Sawade
- Ian Challis
- fixer
- Moise Gatambi
- Solange Nyamulisa
- Wills Samati
- interpreter
- Moise Gatambi
- Solange Nyamulisa
- Wills Samati
- translator
- Jean-Thierry Nkulikiyumukiza
- Hareda Bolis
- assistant editor
- Philip Wilson
- graphics
- Philip Wilson
- sound supervisor
- Russell Walker
- sound editor
- Jakob Thiesen
- Steve Payne
- re-recording mixer
- Ian Rodness
- Steve Payne
- post-production supervisor
- Paula Talesnik
- stills photographer
- Steve Simon
- production accountant
- Candis Buder
- online editor
- Michèle Hozer
- archival research
- Patrick Reed
- legal affairs
- Martyn Krys
- business affairs
- Del Mehes
- Nida Marji
- additional music
- K'naan
- The Mighty Popo
- post-production facility
- Kitchen Sync Digital Audio
- The Cutting Factory