Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders

Where to Watch

Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders can be unwatchable for those without a strong stomach. Whenever the documentary showed the doctors treating patients, I had to turn away–surgeries, lumps in strange places, etc. Because there are subtitles, turning away meant missing huge parts of the film. When I could watch the film, basically any scene involving Dr. Chiara Lepora clearly highlighted the psychological difficulty of the doctors’ task as she explains misplaced anger, promiscuity as a celebration of life in the face of war, the tension between the medical workers who live there & those who are only there temporarily, embracing the culture of your temporary African home as opposed to imposing an arm’s length “European” approach, issues of status & respect. Not for the faint of heart, perhaps should have focused on just one doctor’s experience so doesn’t have an ER feel of jumping from patient to patient, but overall an interesting documentary.

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