Event Description
A documentary film exploring the life of Irish surgeon, Denis Burkitt, who discovered Burkitt’s lymphoma as told by filmmaker Éanna Mac Cana, a survivor of this cancer.
A man who turned simple observations into major scientific discoveries. Dr Denis Burkitt holds a unique place in medical history. While working as a surgeon in Uganda in the late 1950s, Burkitt not only described a completely new form of lymphoma in children, but mapped its geographical distribution; suggested a viral cause; developed a treatment and then a cure for the disease which would go on to bear his name.
First time filmmaker, Éanna Mac Cana, creates a unique experience combining his personal recordings as an inpatient being treated for Burkitt’s lymphoma with Burkitt’s own astonishing archive of photographs and films from sub-Saharan Africa. Though weaving together the patterns, parallels and chance events between lives, this remarkable documentary examines the non-linear impact of trauma, colonialism and the ethics of medical work through an artistic lens and seeks to highlight the importance of creativity in dealing with these issues.
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