The English Surgeon

A British neurosurgeon confronts the dilemmas of the doctor-patient relationship on his latest mission to Ukraine.

Film Signature Image
Series
POV, Global Voices
Premiere Date
September 8, 2009
Length
90 minutes
Funding Initiative
International
  • Award laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2008 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival-Best International Feature Documentary
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    2008 Sheffield Doc/Fest-Most Popular Audience Film
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    2008 Silverdocs-Best International Feature Documentary
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    2008 Expresion en Corto, Filmaciones del Estado de Guanajuato-Best International Feature Documentary
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    2008 Festival European des 4 Ecrans-Golden Screen
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    2009 Zagrebdox International Documentary Film Festival-Audience Award
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    2010 Christopher Awards-Christopher Award
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    2010 News and Documentary Emmy Awards-Outstanding Science and Technology Programming
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    2011 duPont Awards-Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award
  • Producer/Director

    Geoffrey Smith

    Born in Melbourne, Australia, Geoffrey Smith began traveling early, discovering a twin love for movies and storytelling along the way. In 1987 he found himself in Haiti, helping to make a documentary about the country’s first election in 31 years. Following the discovery of a massacre of 21 voters in a schoolyard, Smith was himself shot and wounded. After Show more struggling to recover in London, he decided to journey back to Haiti to find the man who had nearly killed him — and to film the whole thing. The resulting film, Searching for a Killer, won wide acclaim and was aired on the BBC. Smith discovered that the camera can be a powerful, cathartic tool in helping people through difficult periods and went on to build his subsequent work around that concept. The winner of numerous awards, he has made more than 22 films and has worked for all the major U.K. broadcasters. Show less

    Producer

    Rachel Wexler

    Rachel Wexler has been working in documentary for 17 years. She specializes in producing international documentary projects for a worldwide audience. She has worked on 10 films for BBC Storyville (including two in production) and has produced films for many award winning filmmakers including Phil Grabsky (The Boy Who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan, In Search of Mozart), Show more Marc Isaacs (Philip and His Seven Wives), Oliver Hodge (Garbage Warrior), and Luke Holland (A Very English Village, More Than a Life). Rachel runs Bungalow Town Productions with her partner Jez Lewis. Show less

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    The Film

    In the early 1990s, British neurosurgeon Henry Marsh traveled to Kiev, Ukraine and was horrified by its medieval brain surgical procedures. Since then, Marsh has attempted to improve the system by performing procedures for free and sending used equipment to Igor Kurilets, a controversial Ukrainian neurosurgeon. The English Surgeon looks at the dilemmas of the doctor-patient relationship and the moral choices of modern medicine.

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