The Flying Doctors of East Africa
Encyclopedia
The Flying Doctors of East Africa is a 1969 documentary film
by Werner Herzog
about the "flying doctors" service of the African Medical and Research Foundation
in Tanzania
, Kenya
, and Nairobi
. The film is a fairly conventional documentary made during the filming of Herzog's more stylized films Fata Morgana and Even Dwarfs Started Small
.
Herzog was asked to make this film by some friends of the doctors themselves.
The film consists mostly of factual accounts of the doctors' service, mostly avoiding the surrealism and stylizations that characterize the typical Herzog film. Herzog has said, "I do not even call it a film, it is much more a Bericht, a report."
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
by Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
about the "flying doctors" service of the African Medical and Research Foundation
African Medical and Research Foundation
The African Medical and Research Foundation was founded in 1957, by three surgeons as the Flying Doctors Service of East Africa. Three doctors – Sir Michael Wood, Archibald McIndoe and Tom Rees – drew up a groundbreaking plan to provide medical assistance to remote regions of East Africa, where...
in Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, and Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
. The film is a fairly conventional documentary made during the filming of Herzog's more stylized films Fata Morgana and Even Dwarfs Started Small
Even Dwarfs Started Small
Even Dwarfs Started Small is a 1970 film by German director Werner Herzog.-Plot:A group of dwarfs confined in an institution on a remote island rebel against the guards and director in a display of mayhem...
.
Herzog was asked to make this film by some friends of the doctors themselves.
The film consists mostly of factual accounts of the doctors' service, mostly avoiding the surrealism and stylizations that characterize the typical Herzog film. Herzog has said, "I do not even call it a film, it is much more a Bericht, a report."