Smile Train Joins With CCTV For The Network's First Non-Profit Documentary About Cleft Patients

'DZACHUKA'S SMILE' TO PREMIERE IN BEIJING

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Sep 27, 2013, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 27, 'DZACHUKA'S SMILE,' a non-profit documentary co-produced by China Central Television Documentary Channel (CCTV) and Smile Train, will premiere in Beijing. CCTV¹s first non-profit documentary focusing on cleft patients, called 'DZACHUKA'S SMILE,' will subsequently air throughout China, with over 100 million viewers expected to watch. The film was selected as a contestant for the 12th Sichuan International 'Golden Panda Award' for Documentary in 2013.

The goal of the film is to educate global audiences of how lives can be changed with a simple surgery. It documents the efforts of the Lamu Sisters and local officials, who work together to change the fate of cleft children living on the Dzachuka Plateau. The story takes place on the southeastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China.

"The film shows what one simple operation can do to change a child's life, their family and even a village," said Charles B. Wang, Chairman of Smile Train. "CCTV should be applauded for the effort they have made to show how lives can be changed and we at Smile Train could not be prouder of being involved in such an educational project."

The worldwide television premiere of 'DZACHUKA'S SMILE' is to air on CCTV Composite (CCTV 1) on the evening of September 30, 2013, and is to be replayed on CCTV Documentary (CCTV 9) on October 7.

For additional information on the organization and how to get involved, please visit www.smiletrain.org.

About Smile Train

Smile Train's mission is to provide a child born with a cleft the same opportunities in life as a child born without a cleft. They provide free cleft lip and palate surgery and comprehensive cleft care to poor children in developing countries. In addition to providing hundreds of thousands of cleft surgeries since 1999, Smile Train has provided training to doctors and medical professionals in 85+ countries.

Unlike many charities that do several different things, Smile Train's mission is focused on solving a single problem: cleft lip and palate. Clefts are a major problem in developing countries where millions of children are suffering with unrepaired clefts. Most cannot eat or speak properly and aren't allowed to attend school or hold a job. They face very difficult lives filled with shame and isolation, pain and heartache. Their clefts usually go untreated because they are poor - too poor to pay for a simple surgery that has been around for decades.

SOURCE Smile Train