Triage: Dr. James Orbinski's Humanitarian Dilemma

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Release Date: May 4, 2008 (limited)

1h 30m | Documentary

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 and 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 hes 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.