Triage: Dr. James Orbinski's Humanitarian Dilemma (2007)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Patrick Reed

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Acclaimed doctor James Orbinski, former head of Doctors Without Borders, returns to Africa to confront the harsh reality of conditions there and explores what it means to be a humanitarian. |

Awards:

1 nomination

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color (HDCAM)

Company:

CanWest Global Television Network

The Story of Haunted Humanitarian Hero

Triage had its regional premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX. It is a fascinating film of a man who has confronted man's inhumanity to man and is haunted by the horrors that he has witnessed. Canadian doctor James Organski, who went on to serve as the international President of Doctors without Borders, served with that same organization amidst the horrors of the famine in Somalia in 1993 and the depths of that hell of earth known as the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. He saw more evil that most of us confront in a lifetime.

The documentary documents his return trip - both physically and psychologically - as he goes back to Somalia and Rwanda as he struggles to write his memoir recounting the evil that he has witnessed. He is struggling with the ghosts of the past as he attempts to move forward intellectually. Dr. Organski, who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for Doctors without Borders in 1999, is one of those unsung heroes that most of us have never heard of.

This is a film that should be viewed widely, because it recounts some of the most awful events of recent history which were ignored by the so-called civilized world at the time and are slowly being forgotten by most of humanity. We should all be more aware of these horrors so that we can hope to prevent their repetition in the future. Triage is a film that deserves to be seen more widely. It should be made available for educational use as well so that young people can be made aware of these evils as those who are brave enough to stand up to the evils as well. We must never forget what happened and those who stood up and attempted to preserve and defend humanity in the middle of hell.