New Film Festival Challenges Cancer Stigma - Top Oncologist On Jury Panel

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 25 Apr 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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Reel Lives: The Cancer Chronicles Film Festival is the first ever international documentary film competition focused on cancer. It aims to raise awareness of the impact of cancer while also honouring people who have been touched by the disease.

Reel Lives is produced by the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) and will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 28-30 August. The festival is supported by a grant from GlaxoSmithKline Oncology.

In its inaugural year, the festival has already received more than 100 film entries from around the world, and has just added noted oncologist Dr. Larry Norton to its team of expert judges.

"We are thrilled with the positive response," says Isabel Mortara, executive director of UICC, the leading international non-governmental organization dedicated exclusively to the global control of cancer. "We believe the festival will help demystify cancer and deepen awareness of cancer as a pressing global health issue, while also highlighting progress in the fight against the disease."

Films submitted to the competition come from more than 20 countries and are a mixture of features, shorts and public service announcements. Several are by notable directors, including the 2007 Oscar-winning documentary Freeheld by Cynthia Wade, which follows the true story of a dying police officer who fights to transfer her pension to her domestic partner.

Submissions to Reel Lives: The Cancer Chronicles Film Festival will be accepted until 1 May 2008. A panel of cancer community experts and film industry personalities will judge the films and select the winners.

"We are pleased to have Dr. Norton as a judging panel member for the festival," says Ann Steyn, jury chairperson, president of UICC's Reach to Recovery International (RRI), and breast cancer survivor. "Dr. Norton is a well-respected oncologist committed to breast cancer research and improved treatments for patients and his perspective will be invaluable to the judging process."

Dr. Norton is the Deputy Physician-in-Chief for Breast Cancer Programs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Dr. Norton has also served as chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation since its inception in 1993. He was formerly the Chair of the Breast Committee of the National Cancer Institute's Cancer and Leukemia Group B and President of the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations (NABCO). He was President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology from 2001 to 2002 and was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the National Cancer Advisory Board.

The festival will take place during the 2008 World Cancer Congress in Geneva. The grand prize winner will receive $10,000. Other monetary prizes will also be awarded.

http://www.reellives.org