44 | OCTOBER 3 • 2019 

A

lmost 2 million people will 
be newly diagnosed with 
cancer this year, and almost 
607,000 people will die from the dis-
ease, according to statistics from the 
American Cancer Society.
Local producer and director 
Keith Famie wanted to know what 
Michigan oncologists, as well as 
oncological clinicians and researchers 
from across the country, are doing to 
combat a disease that instantly brings 
upheaval to a person’
s life and the 
lives of their loved ones.
“Cancer is frightening,
” he said. “It’
s 
this beast with the ability to morph 
itself. It makes it so difficult for 
oncologists (to treat) because it has 
the ability to change itself.
”
Famie, with the cooperation of 
approximately 100 people, including 
Jewish doctors, patients and leaders 
of cancer-focused service organiza-
tions from Metro Detroit, will release 
the three-hour documentary, Those 
on the Front Lines of Cancer, this 
month. 
The full documentary will air 
on Detroit Public Television/PBS, 

Channel 56, in Detroit with the 
first hour showing from 9-10 p.m. 
Thursday, Oct. 10, and the remaining 
two hours from 9-11 p.m. Thursday, 
Oct. 17. 
The documentary, produced by 
Famie’
s Visionalist Entertainment 
Productions company, is broken into 
21 segments that include a look at 
specific cancers like breast cancer, 
blood cancer, prostate cancer and 
childhood cancers as well as seg-
ments on precision medicine, com-
munity organizations that serve those 
with cancer, the issue of opioids and 
marijuana in allaying cancer symp-
toms and financial toxicity related to 
paying for cancer care, among other 
subjects.
“In having spent time with some of 
these cancer researchers, [I’
ve learned 
that] a lot of us have caused our own 
problems and now we’
re paying the 
price,
” Famie said. “How do we get 
back to some of the basics? How do 
we avoid cancer? What can we do 
from a lifestyle standpoint to stack 
the decks in our favor?
“I wanted to address a lot of com-

plex issues but to give people practi-
cal advice,
” he said.
Famie and his production crew 
spent two years making the docu-
mentary and just recently finished 
filming. Famie previously produced a 
documentary about Alzheimer’
s dis-
ease and dementia, and those on the 
front lines of battling those diseases, 
among other health-related docu-
mentaries.
“I asked myself, what are the dis-
eases that take you out of the game of 
life? I lost my father to Alzheimer’
s,
” 
Famie said. “The natural one to gravi-
tate to [next] is cancer.
” 

GOING TO THE EXPERTS
Famie interviewed oncologists 
and cancer researchers from the 
University of Michigan, Children’
s 
Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, 
Henry Ford Health System, 
Beaumont Health, Ascension 
Providence Hospital and the Barbara 
Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, in 
addition to experts from hospitals 
and health organization across the 
country.

“Nothing is more rewarding than 
someone saying, ‘This helped me go see 
the doctor. It’s taught me to be more 
proactive about how to live life.”

— FILMMAKER KEITH FAMIE

On the
Front Lines

Survivors, educators, doctors 
help Keith Famie produce a 
documentary about cancer.

ELIZABETH KATZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Jeffrey Taub, M.D., a 
specialist in pediatric 
hematology/oncology 
at Children’
s Hospital of 
Michigan, treats Glenn, 
a child with cancer. Both 
are featured in Keith 
Famie’
s documentary. 

Keith 
Famie

PHOTOS COURTESY OF VISIONALIST ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTIONS

Arts&Life

documentary

