PBS - News Hour: The Rundown – June 21, 2010:
Filmmaker Explores Intense Situations Faced by Doctors Without Borders: Review by Lauren Knapp and Interview with Director Mark Hopkins.
National Public Radio—Weekend Edition – June 19, 2010:
Host Scott Simon interviews filmmaker, Mark Hopkins, and Doctors Without Borders doctor, Chiara Lepora.
Vanity Fair - June 4, 2010:
Don't Confuse Doctors With Angels, Says Chiata Lepora of Living in Emergency
"Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders, directed by Mark Hopkins, goes beyond the adrenaline and drama to show what these far-flung doctors encounter daily blood and pain and panic, certainly, but also their own doubts and wavering faith. What am I doing here? and Who am I actually saving? are some of the soul-searching questions that linger in the air as Hopkins follows four doctors on fraught assignments in Liberia and the Congo in 2005 and 2006."
—Anderson Tepper
USA Today - July 1, 2010:
Face the facts with these summer documentaries.
"A fascinating window into the seldom-portrayed and less-than-glamorous side of humanitarian aid work."
—Claudia Puig
Fast Company - June 3, 2010:
Review - The Bravest Doctors in the World
"The outstanding new documentary "Living In Emergency" follows four Doctors Without Borders volunteers as they try to heal the ailing--and themselves--in Congo and Liberia.
The true power of this film is in how it quietly lays out, through these stories, the magnitude of the tragedy that war, poverty, corruption, and our own negligence of fellow humankind have wrought. It's a Goliath too huge for this good-hearted, heroic Davids to conquer, but still they try. With its rich, complicated tales of good work amid bad situations, the same could be said about this important and powerful film."
—Jeff Chu
Los Angeles Times - June 4, 2010:
Movie Review
"Expertly crafted, the documentary captures the rhythms and patterns of [four young physicians'] daily demanding lives and reveals the characters of four intelligent, reflective and wholly engaging individuals."
—Kevin Thomas
Variety - June 1, 2010:
Movie Review
"With rare candor and a refreshing lack of piety, first-timers and combat-weary veterans exhibit their camaraderie, euphoria and burnout as the camera documents their struggles with logistics, horror, death and self-doubt."
—Ronnie Scheib
The New York Times – May 30, 2010:
Sainted Heroic Doctors, Minus the Halos
"THE hardened, heroic doctor working selflessly to save lives in a war zone has become a familiar figure in popular entertainment. The long-running television series “ER,” for example, sent Noah Wyle’s John Carter and Goran Visnjic’s Luka Kovac off to Congo on just such an assignment, fraught with mortal danger and moral dilemmas.
A similar sense of drama permeates “Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders,” a documentary film about the international humanitarian aid group that opens nationally on Friday. But “Living in Emergency” stands apart from standard medical fare by focusing on the organization and its mission rather than on individual predicaments..."
—Larry Rohter
WSJ.COM – May 26, 2010:
“'Living in Emergency’ Highlights Doctors Without Borders” by Alexandra Cheney.
"Dr. Chiara Lepora understands that part of her job is deciding who gets to live and who dies. As a doctor with Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders, Lepora is dropped in embattled countries or war-torn nations to provide free and fair medical care. As Head of Mission, responsibility often falls to her to decide whom to treat and in what order. That decision can both save and kill.
A new documentary, “Living in Emergency,” dives into the lives of five doctors posted in Liberia, a country recovering from a 15-year conflict, and Democratic Republic of Congo, a country entrenched in war. For 93 minutes, Dr. Chris Brasher, Dr. Tom Krueger, Dr. Davinder Gill, Dr. Arnaud Jeannin and Dr. Chiara Lepora cut, sew, wrap and treat bleeding and traumatized victims, almost all civilians, in their Médecins Sans Frontières erected hospitals.
Celebrating its New York premiere Tuesday night, Lepora and Jeannin were on hand to discuss their lives as doctors within the organization as was director Mark Hopkins to speak about the film."
The Huffington Post – May 10, 2010:
Director, 'Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors without Borders'
"Everyone thinks of making their film as an epic saga. Directors tell me horror stories of actors refusing to leave their trailer, starlets AWOL with 'nervous exhaustion'. I wonder if they think I'm lying when I talk about being stranded in war zones, dragged out of cars by machine gun, or capturing a French doctor's panic when short of supplies, he's forced to drill a dying man's skull with the wrong equipment. Then watching the doctor in a militia drinking hole break out the beers in celebration, as he finds out the old man recovered. And that's before the real sticky moments as a director -- trying to persuade people that you weren't about to hit them with another pious do-gooder film, because yours is... well, it's about Doctors Without Borders. "
—Mark N. Hopkins
National Public Radio—Weekend Edition – December 13, 2009:
Listen to host Liane Hansen discuss the film with director Mark Hopkins and Dr. Tom Krueger.
Chicago Tribune – December 11, 2009: "We’ve never seen extensive film footage of what, exactly, the doctors go through on a daily basis in the war–torn countries in which they work… It’s a fascinating glimpse into the work of this Nobel Peace Prize–winning group…"
— Chicago Tribune (link no longer active - download PFD version of article)
ABCNews.com – December 14, 2009:
Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders’ Makes Debut
Huffington Post – December 11, 2009:
Doctors Without Borders: Living in Emergency
ac360 Blog – December 10, 2009: "This documentary sheds light not only on the amazing work of MSF but also on the distressing situation of people all over the world living in poverty, amidst conflict, and without basic human needs."
—Kira Kleaveland, ac360 Blog
Daily Variety – December 10, 2009:
Popularity plays no role in docu picks
LAist – November 29, 2009: "Living in Emergency quickly takes on an emotional / dangerous / enraging quality that rivals only The Cove in its scope and complexity, and completely blows it out of the water with its topic and tone… By allowing filmmakers in for the first time, MSF has given director Mark Hopkins the opportunity to create both a calling card for the work that Doctors Without Borders does, and a cautionary tale about what it means to really help in a world that is teeming with outstretched hands."
—Farley Elliott, LAist
LAist – December 14, 2009:
"See This Tonight"
Current TV Blog – December 11, 2009:
"A shout-out to Doctors Without Borders"
Santa Barbara Independent – December 4, 2009:
"Doctor Without Border: Into Sudan with UCSB Grad and Cottage Hospital ER Doc Jason Prystowsky"
New Haven Register – December 14, 2009: "It's a rare look at true heroism, at idealism in the face of overwhelming chaos, at passionate commitment to others…"
—Sandi Kahn Shelton, New Haven Register. Article also includes an interview with MSF worker Kelly Grimshaw.
The Baltimore Sun – December 13, 2009:
"The story of healing where angels fear to tread: Doctors Without Borders film rings true to area nurse"
