War Hospital

20051 h 29 min 10 secFilm: Documentary

Direction: David ChristensenDamien Lewis

Production: Bonnie Thompson (National Film Board of Canada)Graydon McCreaTakahiro HamanoNobuo Isobe

Script: David ChristensenDamien Lewis

Produced by the National Film Board of Canada in co-production with NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), with the assistance of CTV, NHK (Japanese Broadcasting Corporation), Discovery Communications Inc. and Banff Television Foundation.

Shot in cinéma vérité, War Hospital intensely immerses the viewer in the sights and sounds of the world's largest field hospital. Over the past eighteen years the International Committee of the Red Cross has cared for victims of the civil war in Sudan - the longest-running conflict in Africa - near the Sudanese border in Likichoggio, northern Kenya.

The ICRC allowed filmmakers David Christensen and Damien Lewis unprecedented access to the surgical hospital and local medical staff as they go about their duties, caring for wounded Sudanese soldiers and women and children, all casualties of the civil war. With no narrator and minimal explanation, War Hospital simply and powerfully captures the joy and sadness of life and death. From the beginning glimpses of rebel fighters singing patriotic songs to the final, sombre graveyard scene, the documentary subtly brings home the horrors of war.

Warning: This film contains graphic medical images.

Subject categories


  • Health and Medicine > Accidents, Emergencies and First AidDeveloping Countries
  • Developing Countries > AfricaHealth and IllnessHealth in AfricaWar, Conflict and Peace
  • War, Conflict and Peace > AfricaWar Victims

Credits


writer
David Christensen
Damien Lewis
director
David Christensen
Damien Lewis
producer
Bonnie Thompson
Takahiro Hamano
associate producer
David Christensen
Damien Lewis
editor
Emma S. Barry
camera
Damien Lewis
David Christensen
location sound
John Blerot
location production manager
Hannah Lewis
online editor
Denis Pilon
sound design
John Blerot
Wolf Willow Sound
assistant sound editor
Mike Sanders
sound mix
Shelley Craig
post-production
National Film Board of Canada
consultant
Nick Hector
translation
Kuai Biar
Centralized Interpreter Services
interpretation
Kuai Biar
Centralized Interpreter Services
transcription typist
Bridget Toms
producer in development
Damien Lewis
David Christensen
marketing manager
Kim Ziervogel
production assistant
Claudette Laflamme
Faye Yoneda
production coordinator
Ginette D'Silva
production supervisor
Kelly Isaac
program administrator
Darin Clausen
executive producer
Graydon McCrea
Nobuo Isobe

Awards


  • Honorable Mention - Category: FeaturesDigital Media Festival
  • Best of the Festival International Film and Video Festival