Send In The Clowns is a documentary feature about the work of an organization called Clowns Without Borders. Their mission is to travel to areas of crisis and relieve stress and suffering through laughter. The clowns are volunteer performers, armed with a unique set of skills and an earnest desire to change the world. The film explores their work in Haiti, a country known as the poorest in the Western Hemisphere with the highest number of NGOs per capita in the world. Following the clowns for two years, we witness their unorthodox form of aid both before and after the earthquake, and examine their legitimacy and impact in a place saturated, yet sustained by international intervention.

Haiti has been reliant on international aid for three decades. Years of political turmoil created by violent, despotic leaders have left Haiti a failed state. With little to no infrastructure and a government rife with corruption, the people are forced to generate their own economy. They receive aid from over 3,000 NGOs operating in the country with various agendas. Clowns Without Borders enters this landscape in an effort to address the needs of children. These needs are exponentially greater following the 2010 earthquake, but in the wake of such extreme devastation, what is most needed and what is the point of sending clowns?

The film is a character driven narrative, which explores the provocative issue of providing aid to Haiti from the perspective of the clowns and the local people they have come to help. What constitutes effective aid work? There is an inherent cynicism to the idea of bringing laughter to a country with such drastic needs, yet there is a tangible response that defies logic, as the clowns overcome language barriers with slapstick and absurd chase routines. Send in the Clowns deftly juggles the serious with the comical, and at its heart questions the basic needs of a human being.