In BEATOCELLO’s UMBRELLA, award-winning director Georges Gachot tells the story of Beat Richner M.D. author, illustrator and concert cellist; from his coming-of-age in Switzerland, to his street performances as a young medical student in the persona of the clown Beatocello; to his founding of five children’s hospitals in today’s Cambodia. Revered as a national hero, Richner’s Herculean efforts have saved the lives of millions of Cambodia’s children over the past 20 years, some who have grown up to serve as doctors in his state-of- the-art pediatric hospitals. Now at 64 , Richner continues to practice medicine and travel the world concertising and singing about his protective red umbrella, which has come to symbolise the health and hope he brought to a grateful nation. Unlike many of his contemporaries who held utopian world views, Beat Richner is one of the few who worked to made his vision a reality. With the participation of King Norodom Sihamoni.
