Film Synopsis
Dr Beat and the Passive Genocide of Children
Directed by Janine Hosking

Every year more than a million children receive first-class medical care in one of the world's poorest countries, and it’s all down to the work of a Swiss doctor and his cello.

Paediatrician Dr Beat Richner uses his passion for music to help raise funds for the four children's hospitals that he has created in Cambodia.

At his free concerts, the doctor- affectionately known by his stage name ‘Beatocello’ - talks to the audience about the diseases affecting Cambodian children and what his hospitals are doing to help.

And then he plays his cello.

"The cello is my weapon and it's a good weapon because it has a human voice,” he says.

But despite saving many lives, Dr Richner believes a passive genocide of children rages unchecked due to the ignorance of the World Health Organization and the international charities that follow its policies.

“The belief that poor medicine is good enough for poor people in poor countries is still alive and kicking, “ says Dr Richner.

Hence the stage is set for a documentary that reveals the staggering truth about children’s health care in all third world countries - not just Cambodia.

The intimate and personal stories of Cambodian children and their families is told within daily life at Dr Beat’s hospitals. Survival, politics, music and love are the underlaying themes.

But at the core of the film is the moral debate that anchors the film. What standard of health do third world children deserve? Is the first world and its charity policies contributing to the horrible “genocide” that Dr Beat Richner claims?

One of the world’s most controversial and inspiring doctors goes on the record.