Defining Hope

Sicko

May 2007 •English

A documentary about the corrupt health care system in The United States who's main goal is to make profit even if it means losing people’s lives. "The more people you deny health insurance the more money we make" is the business model for health care providers in America.

Bente gaar til Sygeplejen

September 1945 •Danish

A movie about the education for nurse told from Bente's perspective. She starts at the preschool at Rødkilde Højskole at Møn and comes from there to a hospital, where student time begins. After three years, Bente is trained and can get the nursing needle attached to the robe.

À votre santé

September 1974 •French

Focuses on the state of the Quebec health system in the early 1970s. This film reveals the harsh reality of emergency rooms. There, medical teams, facing a serious shortage of staff, are facing a real invasion of patients. The technical means, often insufficient, make the task even more difficult.

Unbroken: The Snowboard Life of Mark McMorris

February 2018 •English

After a horrific backcountry accident leaves professional snowboarder Mark McMorris in the ICU, he fights for his life and faces an existential crisis.

Bliss

January 2019 •English

After a tragic series of events in his life, Rob discovers the over-the-counter drug known as codeine. The effects of the pill are so strong and addictive, that soon, Rob becomes dependant and consumes them daily. But the less he feels the more he misses, as his life degrades into a deep, dangerous, oblivion of bliss.

Phases of Matter

January 2020 •Turkish

Phases of Matter follows living and inanimate residents of a teaching hospital in Istanbul, moving from the operating room to the morgue, between life and other states, the real and the virtual.

Nurse Unseen

October 2024 •English

Explores the little-known history and humanity of the unsung Filipino nurses risking their lives on the front lines of a pandemic, thousands of miles from home.

A & E: When Patients Attack

January 2015 •English

Hospital staff are reporting more violence and anti-social behaviour than ever before. In 2015, 8 staff were assaulted every hour – a new record high. At The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham – one of the UK’s biggest hospitals – they think they have the answer. Here a private security force of 46 uniformed guards, and a sophisticated CCTV system, keep staff and patients safe. A colourful mixture of characters ranging from ex-soldiers, to bouncers, to former elite sportsmen, it’s the security team’s job to keep the hospital running smoothly. With more than 2 million visitors they have to deal with all aspects of crime and anti-social behaviour. All against a back drop of life changing and life saving procedures.

Pam Roark: Iraq War Nurse

January 2020 •English

Captain Pam Roark is a Navy nurse who shares her story about service, compassion, and leadership, demonstrating that leadership ability isn't a consequence of gender. It is a consequence of character.

Trevor McDonald and the Killer Nurse

October 2018 •English

25 years after he first reported on it, Sir Trevor re-visits the case of Beverley Allitt, one of Britain's most prolific serial killers.

Correspondance privée sur un lieu public

August 1988 •French

I started from the assumption that the discourse about the hospital could be the objective pretext for communication between two people, the link that allows them to continue writing to each other, the intermediary between two desires.

Echo Of The Past: The Terrence Tower

June 2012 •English

A historical documentary documenting the rise, function, and abandonment of a 17 story building that once housed The Rochester Psychiatric Center. This film tells the story of the building through historical footage, interviews of former staff and patients who recount their memories of the behemoth facility while also exploring the abandoned building as it is today.

On the Edge

March 2023 •French

Things are busy at the Paris hospital where young psychiatrist Jamal and his colleagues work. The place is run down, the staff are exhausted, budgets are constantly being slashed. You know the story, but you’ve rarely seen it conveyed as engagingly as in ‘On the Edge’, which employs a handheld camera and meaningful, artistic interventions to observe the daily routine at the psychiatric ward. The deeply sympathetic Jamal is an everyday hero with an exemplary, humanistic disposition, for whom the most important prerequisites for mental health – and for a healthy society in general – are good relationships with other people. He puts his philosophy into practice by listening patiently, giving good advice and organising theatre exercises based on Molière. Realism and idealism, however, are in balance for the young doctor, at least as long as the institutional framework holds up.

Waiting Room

March 1975 •

Short Croatian documentary from the former Yugoslavia by Ante Babaja that captures the different faces in a waiting room.

Alene B. Duerk: The First Woman Admiral

January 2020 •English

Following the tradition of military service in her family, Alene Duerk enlisted as a Navy nurse in 1943. During her eventful 32 year career, she served in WWII on a hospital ship in the Sea of Japan, and trained others in the Korean War. She became the Director of the Navy Nursing Corps during the Vietnam War before finally attaining the rank of Admiral in the U.S. Navy. Despite having no other women as mentors (or peers), Admiral Duerk always looked for challenging opportunities that women had not previously held. Her consistently high level of performance led to her ultimate rise to become the first woman Admiral.

Urgences : Soigne et tais-toi

November 2019 •French

Hospital City

September 2004 •English

As debate in Canada and the world rages over health care, Hospital City offers a moving, human portrait of the people whom the issues touch most closely.

The Heart of the Emergency Room

January 2024 •Japanese

A variety of patients are brought in by ambulance 24 hours everyday. In Japan, ambulance as a part of municipal fire departments, do not charge for transportation to hospitals. Under the motto of "emergency care that never refuses," the Ekisaikai Hospital in Nagoya accepts everyone from the elderly with no relatives to those in need. However, the number of ambulances carrying critically ill patients reached a record high due to the pandemic. Patients rejected by other hospitals are pouring into the Ekisaikai Hospital, and the beds are filling up fast... Documentary filmmaker Takuro Adachi observes doctors and patients in various generations and background, and listens to their real voices.

Madame Hofmann

April 2024 •French

"Welcome to my life", Sylvie Hofmann repeats this sentence almost all day long. Sylvie has been a nurse for 40 years at the North Hospital of Marseille. Her life is running. Between patients, her sick mother, her husband and her daughter, she has always devoted her life to helping others. What if she decided to think a little about herself? To retire? Does she have the right, but above all, does she really want to?

Naissance d'un hôpital

January 1991 •French