Jaymie Henry is a US-based doctor who grew up in the Philippines, just one of the
many regions worldwide with limited access to vital surgical procedures. Moved to
take action and create awareness about this growing global epidemic, she co-
founded the International Collaboration for Essential Surgery and, with the help of
South African producer James Carroll and cinematographer Diego Ollivier, directed
and co-produced a film intended to promote the organisation’s agenda to
governments around the world as well as international organisations such as the
United Nations.
According to Carroll, the film, called The Right to Heal, highlights the need for
nurses and junior medical staff in developing countries to be trained by qualified
surgeons on how to perform certain surgical procedures which are both simple and
life-changing.
“Jaymie Henry’s mission was to create awareness about this issue, and band the
United Nations (UN) and World Health Organisation (WHO) together in making it a
priority, so that policy could be changed at government level,’ explains Carroll.
Before production wrapped in April 2014 Carroll, Ollivier and Henry spent a year
battling the nightmarish logistics of African travel, collecting patient testimonials in
order to put a human face to the issue.
Everything was shot using the filmmakers’ own equipment, which included LED
lighting, two Canon 5D Mark IIIs, a Mark II for stills, a basic sound kit with a rifle
mic and Steadicam Merlin. According to Ollivier this basic kit was best suited for
their on-the-go shooting with the light and adaptable 5Ds providing a beautiful
cinematic feel without consuming too much power.
But navigating degraded roads, handling fragile equipment, having limited access to
electricity, getting across borders and having to get “a list of inoculations as long as
my arm’ was at times easier than the horrendous conditions and tragic stories to
which the team was exposed.
Carroll recalls one incident which took place at a hospital in Malawi: “There was a
little boy who saw us coming with cameras, he knew what we were going to do,
which was take his shirt off and look at his burns, and he just started screaming.
The thing with burns is if they don’t get seen to quickly enough, they cause terrible
contractions and the skin attaches to itself. He was screaming and screaming and I
had to turn my camera off and walk away.’
The footage, along with additional material taken in developing countries outside of
Africa, was edited by Carroll over five weeks at Henry’s home in San Francisco
before it premiered at the Bay Area Global Health Film Festival. A recent screening
in April 2014 at the Houses of Parliament in London resulted in the film securing
online distribution with medical journal The Lancet, an ideal platform to expose it to
its target audience: policy makers, government officials and medical professionals.
The film has made a direct impact with this key audience which has resulted in
essential surgery being considered as a priority for the UN Post-2015 Sustainable
Development Goals. Henry, Carroll and Ollivier thus achieved the goal they had in
mind when they set out to make the film. “It started as a passion project and it
shows in the film; it looks great. I’m very proud of it,’ Carroll concludes.
