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