France, 78 minutes
Dir: Daisy Lamothe
Seydou Konat is a doctor in Nongon, a small village in Southern Mali, without electricity or telephones, isolated by two rivers with no bridges, and a 10-hour drive on a dirt road from the capital of Bamako. Working out of the Community Health Care Center, with limited staff and technical facilities, he is the only doctor for more than 40,000 inhabitants.
Everything's Fine portrays Konat's everyday routine: meeting with patients in his office, treating a variety of injuries and ailments in the clinic, lecturing people on the use of condoms to prevent AIDS, warning against the dangers of using water from contaminated wells, insisting on regular vaccinations for young children, dealing with complications of pregnancy, and even comparing professional notes with a traditional healer who comes in for a diagnosis.
Through its engaging portrait of this self-styled "bush doctor," who must try to prevent epidemics of cholera and AIDS as well as deal with the all-too-common but no less life-threatening problems of dehydration and diarrhea, Everything's Fine offers revealing insights into the challenges of health care in Africa today.
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For more information on this film, and to purchase the DVD, visit First Run Icarus Films.
