Saint John’s Health Center, Topanga Film Institute strive to educate the community.
For the first time, Saint John’s Health Center and the John Wayne Cancer Institute (JWCI) are collaborating with the Topanga Film Institute (TFI), a division of the Topanga Film Festival, for Neuro-cinema and Beyond, a three-part film series focused on the brain. These three award-winning documentaries emphasize brain functioning in compelling and artistic ways.
“The brain is one of the last frontiers in medicine, and we welcome this collaboration with filmmakers who are pioneering this subject matter through aesthetic visuals,” said Director of the Brain Tumor Center at JWCI Daniel Kelly, MD, who will be speaking at several of the screenings. “We are convinced that this fresh and dynamic approach to brain education will ignite more ‘neuro-curiosity’ from the community at large.”
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The series is intended to bridge the art and science communities and create awareness of the brain, cancer and other health conditions. These showings will also help honor filmmakers who have dedicated their lives to making a difference though their work. Physicians, such as Dr. Kelly, will also be given a platform to discuss the conditions focused on in these films and educate the public about their research and work.
“If we understand how our brain functions, we can use that knowledge to reach new frontiers not only with our creativity, but our humanity,” said Urs Baur, founder of the Topanga Film Festival.
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Neuro-cinema and Beyond kick-off will be at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 at Saint John’s, with a screening of The English Surgeon (http://www.theenglishsurgeon.com). Following the screenings will be a Q&A over Skype with Emmy-winning Filmmaker Geoffrey Smith and the focus of the film Henry Marsh, MD. Afterwards there will be an in-person Q&A with Saint John’s neurosurgeon Dr. Kelly.
"The nobility of failure – this is the emotional center of my film and the universal theme at the heart of it: the struggle to do good things in a selfish and flawed world,” Smith said. “This is ultimately not a medical film, nor is it a portrait of a saint. Rather, it is about a man who openly wrestles with moral and ethical issues that touch every one of us.”
The series kick-off on Jan. 22, while free to the public, aims to raise funds for brain tumor research, new technology and other items for Dr. Kelly’s work at Saint John’s through a silent art auction. Not wanting to leave the young minds out of the loop, Peter Tulaney, owner of the Malibu Art Barn has created a collaborative brain art piece with 4-year olds exploring their perspective of the mind which will be included in the auction.
“We saw this film series as an opportunity to harness knowledge and navigate the mysteries of the mind in an entertaining yet thought provoking way,” said Lou Lazatin, CEO and President of Saint John’s and JWCI. “By collaborating with the Topanga Film Institute, we are hoping to reach new audiences and educate more people about their health and the amazing work physicians such as Dr. Kelly are doing in this area.”
Additionally, in an effort to create awareness on a national level, internet video spots called “Neuro.bytes” will be aired online and through various other outlets. These video shorts include interviews from Los Angeles-area residents and physician and employees at Saint John’s and JWCI. Such questions asked are:
What is your favorite brain function and why?
Where does creativity come from?
What is the most frustrating thing about your brain?
If you could enhance one aspect of your brain, what would it be?
Go to www.facebook.com/topangafilmfestival to see the clips which will
Premiere the first week of January 2012.
Other future screenings include:
Marwencol: A documentary by Jeff Malmberg about Mark Hogancamp, a man who is left brain damaged and broke after a vicious attack. Hogancamp seeks recovery in "Marwencol," a miniature World War II-era town he creates in his backyard. Winner of the South by Southwest Film Festival Grand Jury Award. For more information, go to www.marwencol.com/film.
Jonna’s Body, Please Hold: Director Jonna Tomases’s documentary is part of the TFI’s Beyond series. The dark comedy about cancer ventures inside the crazy world of Jonna’s body where life’s daily chaos is corralled by Pearl, Jonna’s loyal, sassy internal receptionist, as she fields calls from a parade of off-beat body parts with never-ending needs. When two nasty killers invade, it’s a fight for Jonna’s life. The movie’s stunning visuals and hilarious characters take viewer on a wild and sometimes bizarre ride into the realm of health, illness, joy and the beauty of life. Winner of Audience Award at the Ashville Film Festival. For more information, go to www.madlively.com/productions/jonnasbody-movie/
About the Topanga Film Institute
The Topanga Film Institute (TFI) is dedicated to empowering, informing and interconnecting all generations of storytellers who wish to pioneer a new era of global trans-format content. TFI endeavors to promote culture, community, and collaboration through the creative process of storytelling. Good stories have an emotional and educational impact. We thrive on providing outreach that inspires change. For more information, visit www.topangafilmfestival.com.
About Saint John’s Health Center
Since its founding in 1942 by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, Saint John’s Health Center has been providing the patients and families of Santa Monica, West Los Angeles and ocean communities with breakthrough medicine and inspired healing. Saint John’s provides a spectrum of treatment and diagnostic services with distinguished areas of excellence in cancer care, spine, orthopedics, women’s health, cardiac care and specialized programs such as the internationally acclaimed John Wayne Cancer Institute. Saint John’s is dedicated to bringing to the community the most innovative advances in medicine and technology. For more information, visit www.newstjohns.org.
About John Wayne Cancer Institute
John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint John's Health Center is a cancer research institute dedicated to the understanding and curing of cancer in order to eliminate patient suffering worldwide. Our mission is accomplished through innovative clinical and laboratory research and the education of the next generation of surgical oncologists and scientists. For more information, please visit www.jwci.org.
Contacts: Sarah Phelan● Saint John’s/JWCI ● 310-315-4054 ● sarah.phelan@stjohns.org
LG Taylor ● Topanga Film Institute ● 310-770-8254 ● lg@topangafilmfestival.com
