Stories of Doctors Without Borders
Winner of the Special Jury Mention for Cinematic Courage and Dedication to Humanitarian Ideals by the Cinequest Film Festival.
Filming
From July to September 2005, the crew traveled around Africa to film principle photography at local Médecins Sans Frontières hospitals. Arriving first in the conflict prone Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the crew filmed in Beni and Kayna, two towns in the northeastern province of the country. Their work centered on the MSF hospital and its environs, witnessing the essence of a conflict-zone MSF mission.
After the DRC, the crew traveled to the Liberian capital of Monrovia to film at MSF's Mamba Point Hospital, where MSF was providing emergency care following the devastating Liberian Civil War. While in Liberia, they also traveled to the remote northern towns of Foya and Kolohun, experiencing the isolation and intensity of work in a rural MSF clinic.
After this initial film work, the crew continued to do follow-up shoots throughout 2005-2006. In October 2005, the crew traveled to Kashmir, Pakistan to film the MSF emergency response to the 7.6 magnitude earthquake. In 2006, they returned to Africa, where they revisited Mamba Point Hospital, in Monrovia, Liberia, and traveled to Malawi to see the MSF AIDS program. Additional locations included Paris, France, at the MSF headquarters, as well as Montreal, Canada, Niger, Kenya, and Tennessee, United States.
The shoots were organized to cover the various facets of the MSF organization; the administrative base, the conflict and post-conflict missions, and the response to natural disaster.
Music and sound
Composer Bruno Coulais's score was recorded in Paris using European and African influences. Cello solos were performed by Jean-Philippe Audin. Additional instrumentation was performed by Slim Pezin. Vocal solos were performed by Chantal Ayissi and Marie Kobayashi. The final audio mix for the film was done at C5 Inc. in New York.