After a meeting with some children from Rome, twenty-one clown
doctors from all over the world leave for Kabul. They are happy,
noisy, colourful, but their first encounter with the reality of
the Afghan paediatric hospitals is really hard.
At the end of the first day the shock at what they have seen is
written all over their faces. However, the impact of what they
see provides an added impetus for continuing their work. In the
following days they are to bring their joy of life, and ‘smile
therapy’ to all the hospitals of Kabul, as well as to the
markets, dusty streets and rubble.
But Kabul is merely the first stage of their journey before moving
on to the valleys of Panshir, the stronghold of Massud with its
mujaheddin and to Bamyan, among the ruins of the Buddha destroyed
by the Taliban.
Enzo Balestrieri was born in Rome iand during the 1970’s
was active in Rome’s avant-garde theatre. In the 1980’s
he moved between theatre and documentary work. In the 1990’s
he made his cinematic directorial debut with La Luna Nel Pozzo.
Filmography: ‘Fragments of Love’ (1992); Al Trove (1993);
Trouble in Tahiti (1994); Meteore (2000) Assassini Dei Giorni
Di Festa (2001)
Stefano Moser is also from Rome and has worked as Director of
Photography on many documentary films in Italy, and this is his
first collaboration with Enzo Balestrieri.
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