The Surgery Ship

Last updated

The Surgery Ship
Directed byMadeleine Hetherton-Miau
Written byMadeleine Hetherton-Miau
Release date
  • 11 April 2015 (2015-04-11)(United States)
Running time
78 minutes
Countries
  • Australia
  • Guinea
LanguageEnglish

The Surgery Ship is a documentary film (2013) directed by Madeleine Hetherton-Miau and documentary television series (2016) [1] directed by Alex Barry based on the real life events filmed on board the hospital ship the "Africa Mercy". [2] Both single documentary and series were produced by Madeleine Hetherton-Miau and Rebecca Barry, founders of production company Media Stockade [3]

Both titles are distributed by TVF, an English-based television distribution company.

The single-feature documentary was first commissioned in 2012 by Australian TV broadcaster SBS (Special Broadcast Service). [4] Filming took place when the Africa Mercy was docked in Conakry, Guinea, in 2012–2013. The completed film was broadcast in December 2013 in Australia followed by international festival release in 2014 of the longer feature documentary.

In 2015 National Geographic commissioned The Surgery Ship as an eight-episode series. Filming commenced on board the ship again in August 2016. The series was due for broadcast mid-2017 on National Geographic Channel. [5]

The Africa Mercy hospital ship is run by non-governmental organisation "Mercy Ships", an international charity which has run hospital ships, primarily in West Africa since 1982. [6] Mercy Ships offer surgical aid. Mercy Ships operates in primarily in West Africa, although recently it visited Madagascar for two field services. [6]

The TV broadcast of The Surgery Ship garnered many positive reviews, including major Australian newspapers such as The Sydney Morning Herald , [7] [8] TV Tonight, [9] News.com [10] & Global Health Gateway. [11]

The Surgery Ship single-feature documentary has been successful screening at multiple festivals and winning a number of awards including Best Film at the Sarasota International Film festival. [12] [13]

The Surgery Ship series was broadcast to strong critical support in 2017 on National Geographic People Channel [14] and won a number of awards including Best Human Interest Documentary at the Association for International Broadcasters (AIB) [15] and Best Direction in a Series at the ADG awards [16]

The Surgery Ship is produced by Media Stockade an independent film production company specialising in documentary films. [17]


Availability in USA:

The Surgery Ship series was made available to watch without subscription on National Geographic channel in the USA for the first time in 2023. www.natgeotv.com

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References

  1. "Screen Australia allocates over $1.4 million to four documentary projects". if.com.au. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  2. "Subscribe - theaustralian". www.theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  3. "Home". Media Stockade. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  4. "About - The Surgery Ship on SBS". www.sbs.com.au. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  5. "Channel Homepage". National Geographic Channel. Archived from the original on 25 November 2005. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Mercy Ships - A Floating Hospital". www.mercyships.org. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  7. "Tuesday, December 10". 5 December 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2017 via The Sydney Morning Herald.
  8. Ziegler, Lauren (5 December 2013). "Sea change on Mercy Ship" . Retrieved 23 June 2017 via The Sydney Morning Herald.
  9. "Airdate: Surgery Ship". 28 November 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  10. "TV Picks: A roller-coaster ride" . Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  11. "The Surgery Ship [FILM] - Global Health Gateway". globalhealthgateway.org.au. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  12. "Home - Surgery Ship". Surgery Ship. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  13. Clark, Travis (20 April 2015). "Sarasota Film Festival Announces Jury and Audience Award Winners; 'White God' Nets Prize - IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  14. "National Geographic | Disney Australia & New Zealand". Disney Australia. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  15. "The AIBs 2017 | The AIBs". theaibs.tv. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  16. 2018 AD Awards Winnes Announced
  17. "Home - Media Stockade". Media Stockade. Retrieved 23 June 2017.