Production information

Short film created for Smile Train in occasion of their 1,000,000th surgery.

Directed and produced by Stefano Levi
Photography: Werner Kubny
Sound Recording: Rosalie Kubny
Editing: Christoph Tetzner-Kannen
Narrator: Deborah Friedman
Sound Mixing: Matteo Bohé
Sound Studio: Art Audio, Cologne

Client

Smile Train, USA

Synopsis

At only six years old, Osawa Owiti already faced more than his fair share of hardships. Born in a remote village in Tanzania, the young boy was the only child his fellow villagers had known to be born with a cleft. Even relatives treated Osawa differently. He became painfully shy and never laughed, as not to draw attention to his cleft lip.

His mother was also subject to tremendous criticism, unjustly blamed by her in-laws for Osawa’s cleft. The family of six, including his father and three siblings, persevered — remaining close despite the stigma surrounding Osawa. Follow Osawa as he transitions from a boy afraid to smile, to one who is now unable to stop; a fitting new beginning for the child who became Smile Train’s one millionth patient.