“I am sorry, but you have breast cancer.” In the United States, one-in-eight women will hear these shattering words in her lifetime. LIFE INTERRUPTED, a documentary feature film about breast cancer, chronicles the lives and experiences of three unique survivors including the filmmaker herself from diagnosis through treatment and life beyond. Assumptions and mythologies about the disease, treatment and prevention will be explored as the women share their personal stories and realities. These women are confronting a life-altering diagnosis, and respond to their disease process and the rebuilding of their lives with honesty, dignity, humor, and grace.
WHY THIS FILM?
The Breast Cancer experience is both medical and emotional. The moment the diagnosis is received, each person must gather information and make life-altering decisions under extreme emotional duress, all in a relatively short period of time. Individual circumstances are unique and yet, hearing stories from articulate women who have traveled this road before is invaluable for navigating the treatments and keeping hope alive. Knowledge is power, the successful prevention and treatment of breast cancer depends on this. What is special about this film is that resilient women from various stages of the disease, ages, ethnic, geographic and socio-economic backgrounds will share their journeys as they cross into and return from, the world of Breast Cancer. Breast cancer is not only an epidemic but also a culturally specific phenomenon.
LIFE INTERRUPTED features character-driven storytelling and a combination of filming techniques designed to be compelling and to reveal personal and universal truths about the breast cancer experience. The stories are illustrated with original animations, graphics, photographs, and medical imaging, making complicated information clear and personal. With widely diverging ages (34-68), ethnicities (African-American, Native American, Jewish, Latina) socio-economic and geographic backgrounds, the shared stories will include verite footage of the daily lives of the main characters, filmed interviews and scenes of treatments and outcomes.
