War Hospital

War Hospital

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Shot in cinema-vérité style, this feature doc immerses us in the sights and sounds of the world's largest field hospital, the International Committee of the Red Cross in Sudan. The ICRC allowed filmmakers David Christensen and Damien Lewis unprecedented access to the surgical hospital and local medical staff as they care 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.

This film deals with mature subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised

When I first saw this film I wasn’t sure what I was in for. While it contains some very difficult moments, it also has moments of pure tenderness, such as the scene in which a nurse comforts a distraught mother whose premature baby is being treated. The camera is respectful, never obtrusive. There is no narration and we quickly get used to the chaotic nature of this type of field hospital. From the airlifting of patients from combat zones to the treatment of women who have had problems during childbirth, the logistics of running this hospital in these conditions are mindboggling. It is a tribute to the dedicated men and women working there that so many lives are saved and so many people are treated. A film not to be missed – but definitely not for the squeamish.

Albert Ohayon
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War Hospital , David Christensen & Damien Lewis, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

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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

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