The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Ramona S. Diaz, hosted by Emer Reynolds.

A fly-on-the-wall portrait of the Jose Fabella Hospital in Manila, an overcrowded and underfunded facility that boasts the world’s busiest maternity ward; poor education and distrust for contraception accounts for the cycle of pregnancy and childbirth the young mothers find themselves caught in.

Although economic deprivation is part of her thesis, Diaz’s approach is empathetic, foregrounding the tireless work of doctors and nurses and the unique experiences of their patients in the seemingly chaotic wards where a spirit of camaraderie prevails.

This screening is part of the IFI Documentary Festival 2017, running from September 27th to October 1st. Find out more about the festival here. 

Notes by David O’Mahony.