Festival Guide

We are very pleased to share the following synopsis summaries for the films participating in the inaugural Reel Lives: The Cancer Chronicles Film Festival!

Public Service Announcements

Fashion to Die For            
The Cancer Council Australia’s 30-second PSA featuring young Australian Clare Oliver, who died from melanoma in September 2007, demonstrates the potential consequences of tanning.  Clare attributed her melanoma partly to previous sun bed use and in the advertisement pleads: “Look at me - what do you choose? I think I choose life.”

To Heal a Child  
A brief yet moving public service announcement encouraging parents to get retinoblastoma testing for their children.

Tragedias
Silence is our worst enemy…How many recent global disasters do you remember? 9/11? The War in Iraq? The 2004 Tsunami?...It's terribly sad when you realize that all those casualties pale in comparison to our yearly Breast Cancer death toll. This piece brings the message that this horrible tragedy can, and should be prevented

Shadow                 
A haunting PSA demonstrates that while we may feel healthy, a hidden, shadow side of cancer may be lurking.

Access to Care: Raina      
The American Cancer Society’s Corporate Communications department developed this PSA of a real story as part of its Access to Care campaign, with the goal of elevating the debate over access to health care in the United States and its importance in the effort to defeat cancer.

I Beat Cancer      
Cancer survivors celebrate life and offer hope to those battling the disease.

Any Questions?
The spot was produced to promote the Society's Cancer Information Service (CIS), a national, bilingual toll-free service available to cancer patients, their families, the general public and healthcare professionals.  The TV spot provided insight into the emotional experience of a cancer patient and their need for information and support.

Basketball            
Basketball players wear uniforms and numbers to identify them, but what about the marks on our skin that might offer early warnings of skin cancer?

Swedish Cancer Association – Bumblebee
If the research scientist’s don´t get more money, the research to fight cancer can´t continue. The Bumble-bee will fly again.

Chips      
In the "Chips" public service announcement we see a young woman sun tanning and alongside her a picture of burning chips. The analogy symbolizes the irreversible process that the unprotected body exposed to the sun undergoes.

How Long is a Piece of String?
This PSA is based on research that a waist measurement over 100cm for men, and over 85cm for women, can increase the risk of cancer.  Featuring a piece of string that symbolises a tape measure, it asks: “How much will being overweight increase your chances of getting cancer? How long’s a piece of string?” and encourages Australians to measure their waist to determine their risk.

Hookah                 
A stylish PSA suggests other kinds of smoking, even the most recreational, can prove just as deadly.

Don't Concede to Eye Cancer. Not in this age!
This PSA conveys the positive message that retinoblastoma, a childhood eye cancer, is curable.

Smoke   
Smoke in a restaurant smokers and non-smokers are placed in separated areas and the smokers area get more smoky and the smoke does not enter the non-smoking area as if there was an invisible wall, then a waiter passes through this imaginary wall and the voice goes: Do you really believe that the smoke respects the non-smoking area? Then the line: Do not smoke in enclosed areas appears in the screen followed by our logo and website.

Zita' Story
‘Zita’s Story’ is a poignant account of the devastating impact smoking had on her and her family.

Personal Stories

Chrigu
This is the story of a young man who once had great plans for the future, until an advanced-stage tumour was discovered at the age of 21. Jan Gassmann follows Christian Ziörjen’s (Chrigu) fight to live, in a film less about death, but about living life. Christian himself had been making his own films since the age of 16: at parties, concerts, on a trip to India, his camera was always with him. With “Chrigu”, filmmaker Jan Gassmann succeeds in creating a moving and surprising portrait of his best friend.

Transparent Time

At the age of 33, Eylon Nuphar, co-creator of Mayumana performance group, is at the peak of her career. One day, in the middle of a European tour, Eylon gets a distressing message: The mammogram that she had taken revealed a suspicious lump in her breast; and so it begins - she finds herself facing a whirlwind of challenges. "Transparent Time", allows us a glance into the extraordinary world of this exceptional young woman, who manages, against all odds, to find strength within fragility, and invites us - through her diary- to share her journey.

The Breast Cancer Diaries
A story of love, liberation and laughter. Diagnosed with breast cancer at age 38, young mother and tv journalist Ann Murray turned the camera on herself, setting up a video diary camera in her bedroom. Ann's unvarnished account is punctuated with poignancy, romance and humour.

Crazy Sexy Cancer
Crazy Sexy Cancer is a love letter to life. In 2003, 31-year-old actress and photographer Kris Carr was diagnosed with a rare, incurable stage IV cancer. Because so little was known about her disease, Kris thinks outside the box and embarks on a holistic healing quest.

Run for Life / Une année de sable
Clara Klaar, 40 years old, tells the story of her fight against leukaemia. A year of hell illustrated in a moving metaphor by the sand storms and suffering of participants in the Marathon des Sables, one of the toughest foot races in the world. A gripping tale that underlines the need for hope and strength in order to overcome insurmountable odds.

Dear Talula          
'Dear Talula' is a portrait of a young woman's experience coping with a breast cancer diagnosis. At age 38, New Yorker, Lori Benson with her 14 month old daughter Talula in tow, is faced with a challenge she never imagined.  This intimate film allows us to share in Lori’s emotional journey and travel with her throughout her entire ordeal.  'Dear Talula' is both courageous and inspiring.  

Freeheld              
The Academy Award winning documentary FREEHELD follows the landmark legal battle of Lieutenant Laurel Hester, a dying New Jersey police officer who fights to transfer her pension to her domestic partner, Stacie Andree.  As her elected officials, The Freeholders, stand firmly against her, and the town explodes around her, Laurel races against time to provide for the love of her life -- before it is too late.

The Art of Living
This film recounts the story of Sambhu Das, painter who was diagnosed with cancer Larynx in 1998 and overcame all hurdles to tell his story. Despite financial and physical limitations Sambhu never lost focus of becoming a successful painter. This is a film celebrating the inner strength of a common man.

A gift: 12.50 cm
Mu-Ching was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer) and lost her left leg at age 16.   Leaning on a cane and wearing prosthesis, Mu-Ching ignores strange stares and learns to produce television shows, dance on stage, trek fast running streams and offer inspirational talks. She even climbed to the summit of northern Taiwan's highest mountain. This is her story.

Thuy's Dream
“Thuy’s dream” is a documentary about a young girl whose name is Le Thanh Thuy.  Thuy suffered from bone cancer since she was 15 years old. During four - year struggle against the deadly disease with her optimisms and learning eager, Thuy lived a meaningful life. The reportage of her beautiful life on Tuoi Tre has ignited thousands of Vietnamese to join her effort to fulfill her dream to take care of cancer kids in Vietnam.

Reportage

Children Fighting Cancer
‘Every day six teenagers discover they have cancer. Teenage life is challenging enough, without having to manage a life-threatening illness as well. This film follows 14 year old Charlotte and 15 year old Andrew as they battle leukaemia. They face the years of gruelling treatment with a touching mixture of unfailing humour and no-nonsense courage.’

La Guerre contre Le Cancer          
Clinton Leaf, a cancer survivor working at Fortune Magazine in the United States, published an article that asks how we can win the war against cancer.

The Truth About Cancer
When filmmaker Linda Garmon’s husband died of cancer, she found herself on a quest to find out why. Following the stories of three other patients, she discovers that the answer is tragically at odds with the very American belief that if you just fight hard enough, you can beat cancer.

Kill or Cure - Cervical Cancer       
This short film shows how simple screening tests and community mobilization are saving lives across India and how Costa Rican scientists and young female volunteers are helping understand the exciting potential of the then new HPV vaccine.

Educational

Lo Faccio 1000 Volte Per Me / I do it 1000 times for myself
Water is the symbol of life, it is the element that unites us to all the other women whose lives have been overturned by cancer, Water is the symbol of our rebirth, it is the flow of hope.

Les Enfants de l'avenir / The Children of the Future
When a local doctor discovers that 11-year-old Mohamad has a tumour, Mohamad and his mother must travel six-hundred kilometers from their village in eastern Morocco to the capital city, Rabat. The Association de L'Avenir provides a place for children and their families to reside during their treatment. Even amidst trying times, Mohamad and his mother have an opportunity to see the ocean for the first time.  

Tropic of Cancer
The film covers intimate confessions of three smokers suffering from lethal smoking related diseases.Three smokers. Three stories. One ending.

Emily's Story       
How do cancer survivors return to their normal life? Nine-year-old Emily Olvera transitions from being a leukaemia patient in a hospital setting to her local elementary school. Emily faces the stigma associated with cancer, from difficulty connecting with peers to struggling to meet academic standards.

Bonus Films

99 to 1: Ovarian Cancer and Me
In the summer of 2005 the doctors said they were 99% sure filmmaker Phoebe Brown did not have ovarian cancer. She turned out to be the 1%. This is her story.

Claudia's Story/La historia de Claudia, nuestra historia
This film is a frequent story in Oncology, about a young woman with breast cancer, sincer her diagnosis until her death. The Paliative Medicine improves the quality of life for the patient, family and health equipment.

Cyborg
When learning he suffered from a rare form of cancer, at age eleven, Luke Alderson's life changed forever. The construction of a robotic exo-skeleton over his diseased leg forced Luke to see life from another perspective. Using the medium of science fiction, Luke was able to escape into a fantasy world in which he was not a victim, but an inter-galactic hero.

For My First Born              
In Batangas, Philippines, seven-year-old Justine battles Acute Lymphocytic Leukaemia (or ALL). With barely enough money to support her monthly medication costs, Justine's family struggles to get by each day's challenges. Support from the Cancer Warrior Foundation enables Justine and her parents (and over 80 other children with cancer) to endure and triumph.

Hey Mommy, Did you Make a Wish?
Diagnosed with breast cancer at 32, filmmaker Nancy Bellen did what filmmakers do, filmed her life. The result is a rare and surprisingly uplifting glimpse into a life shaped and reclaimed.

Proton Therapy - A Sniper Against Cancer
Radiotherapy is used to treat 50% of cancers. In spite of much progress this technique still has certain risks. A new technology that is very efficient is in full development: Proton therapy.

The Show Must Go On
Cancer and show business are not ideas that generally mix. But despite being diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 34, actress and comedienne Wendie Jo Sperber is determined to use her art to keep herself and others living, loving and laughing.