A Drop in the Ocean

Quand l'organisme humanitaire Médecins Sans Frontières obtient en 1999 le prix Nobel de la paix, la Dre Claudette Picard se trouve au Libéria depuis un mois, où l'avait conduite six ans plus tôt sa toute première mission. Entre-temps, elle a exercé la médecine dans plusieurs pays en guerre, toujours dans des conditions d'extrême précarité, quand ce n'est pas au péril de sa vie. Qu'est-ce qui pousse ainsi des hommes et des femmes à tout quitter pour tenter de soulager une misère humaine insondable? Peu importe la réponse, ils sont là, sur le terrain, prodiguant des soins sans lesquels s'écroulerait toute raison d'espérer. Comme le fait Claudette Picard dans la petite ville de Harper, dévastée par la guerre civile qui a longtemps déchiré le Libéria. À l'aide de quelques mots d'anglais, de sa présence réconfortante et de rares médicaments, elle réussit parfois l'impossible. Mais pas toujours...

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. In Triage, a feature-length documentary, Orbinski travels to war-torn Somalia, the first place he was posted with MSF in 1992; then to Rwanda, where he was MSF Head of Mission during the 1994 genocide. Finally he goes to Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, where it seems humanitarian dreams go to die. Filmed in an intense vérité style, Triage: Dr. James Orbinski's Humanitarian Dilemma presents a unique view of the world through the penetrating eyes of Orbinski. He refuses to turn away when confronting troubling memories or realizing disturbing truths and, in the most unlikely of places, he finds where bonds of solidarity are forged, and human spirits somehow remain unbroken. Orbinski - a father, a doctor, a humanitarian - has seen lives saved and lives lost and has personally witnessed a world gone astray. In Triage: Dr. James Orbinski's Humanitarian Dilemma, he searches for a new path and invites the viewer to follow. Triage: Dr. James Orbinski's Humanitarian Dilemma is an 88-minute feature film by the creative team behind the award-winning documentary Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire.

Meeting Soraida will overturn any preconceived notions you may have about Palestine. In her neighbourhood, the women do not all wear veils, the men do not rattle off empty political slogans, the young people do not strap bombs to their belts, and the children play together like children everywhere. Despite the burden of curfews and checkpoints, life goes on in Ramallah. Taking us into the daily existence of Soraida, her family and neighbours, the film compels us to ask fundamental questions. How can the Palestinians preserve their humanity while living under the Occupation? How can they avoid being consumed by hate and anger, caught up in the cycle of victim and victimizer? How can they resist the omnipresent "culture of death" without evading the painful issue of suicide bombing? Grappling with these issues will give us a new perspective on Palestine. Just as Soraida, who goes up to the roof of her building to fly a kite, can see her beloved land from above, free and unshackled. In French with English subtitles.