The Documentary

By Katie — January 21, 2010 | 0 comments

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When natural disasters hit, the speed and coordination of response is critical to saving lives. This gritty documentary series takes you behind the headlines of Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake to document an international relief operation from emergency response to recovery.

Inside Disaster follows the disaster relief teams of the Red Cross as they mount the largest single-country response in their history. In Haiti 600 trained humanitarians are on the ground, from over 30 countries. Embedded in the Red Cross base camp, our camera has unprecedented access to gripping stories, compelling characters and intense drama.

On January 14th – day 2 of the disaster – our camera crosses the Dominican border into Haiti with the Red Cross Field Assessment and Coordination Team (FACT). FACT is the Red Cross’ international, multi-disciplinary team; trained to assess need, call in help, and oversee a disaster response. With specialists in health, relief, logistics, and water and sanitation; they have all the skills necessary to tackle a complex, urban disaster.

Typically the FACT team is given 48 hours to assess the damage and begin calling in specialized relief units from around the world, Red Cross Emergency Response Units (ERUs). But the Haiti earthquake is so disastrous that 10 ERUs are mobilized before the FACT team even arrives in Port-au-Prince. By day 4 of the disaster hundreds of relief workers are on the ground, but the disaster zone is riddled with obstacles.

Roads are blocked. Vehicles and gas are in short supply. Food and water for their own staff is limited to what the Red Cross can bring in from the Dominican. Until the IT ERU can set up a radio network, communications are almost impossible. For the first week the team struggles with the logistical problems endemic to a massive relief operation. With hundreds of NGOs operating in Haiti, bottlenecks at the airport and the Dominican border restrict the flow of life-saving equipment and medical staff.

Over the next weeks the FACT team continually reassess need and revise their operation to save as many lives as possible. Joined by their ERU colleagues, these brave individuals are our characters in a life and death drama that threatens the lives of tens of thousands. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

Our second camera crew is among the Haitian people, following the stories of three individuals affected by the disaster. They represent a cross-section of Haitian society, each coping with their own personal tragedies. A mother who lost four of her five children, her home, and her business struggles to survive. Nearly a month after the disaster, Mdme Magalee has yet to receive any international assistance. Two brothers Marcel and Romain aren’t waiting for aid, they are determined to rebuild their lives themselves. They are the first to construct a permanent structure in the largest makeshift camp, Champs de Mars. And in Camp Juvenat, Louken uses his rudimentary first-aid training to open a clinic. Starting with only guaze and a few aspirin, he builds a first-class clinic for the community in his camp – helped by the Nicaraguan military.

BACKGROUND

The 2000s was an unprecedented decade of natural disasters; affecting on average 250 million people per year. By 2015 that number is expected to rise to 375 million. On average relief organizations spend about $4.3 billion in aid every year. In 2008 natural disasters killed 220,000 people, and the world saw two of the deadliest disasters on record including cyclone Nagris in Myanmar and China’s 7.8 earthquake – 135,000 and 70,000 fatalities respectively. The increasing number and scale of disasters has created an enormous disaster relief industry and a complicated set of new challenges for humanitarian organizations.

The Red Cross Federation is the largest disaster relief organization in the world, and the only organization coordinating relief operations at an international level. With 186 countries ready to respond, they are at the forefront of redefining the way humanitarian aid is delivered in times of crisis. This is the first time they have allowed camera crews to document their work.

Inside Disaster offers a front row seat to the inner-workings of a large-scale disaster relief operation. It is a poignant analysis of the anatomy of a disaster, calling attention the most pressing issues facing a global community of humanitarian workers in a world of increasingly devastating disasters.

Shot in HD this documentary plays like a fiction, but is all too real. The live action is captured as it unfolds over four weeks; from the moment the FACT team hits the ground until they hand-off to field coordinators who will oversee the long-term recovery.

The style is hand-held, gritty and up-close. The pace is fast, and chaotic but strategic. Everything about the look of this documentary reflects the evolving situation. As the hour plays, and the relief operation progresses the style gradually changes to reflect a crisis brought under control.

Our camera crews will document the fieldwork of each specialist on the FACT team as they assess the damage, and coordinate the supply of life-saving water, healthcare, shelter, and food. The obstacles they face are varied and constantly changing. No two disasters are ever the same.

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