The screening on Saturday the 13th of September was followed by a Q&A with director Éanna Mac Cana and public health researcher John Manton. Hosted by film and festival producer Gerry Maguire.
This strikingly original film explores the life and work of Denis Burkitt, an Irish surgeon who discovered and cured a rare lymphoma – which now bears his name – while working in pre-independence Uganda.
His story is examined by Irish filmmaker Éanna Mac Cana, himself a survivor of Burkitt’s lymphoma, as a creative response to his hospital treatment. Discovering the patterns, parallels and chance events between lives, Mac Cana creates a unique experience combining his personal recordings and Denis Burkitt’s own extensive and astonishing archive of photographs and films from sub-Saharan Africa.
Burkitt effortlessly weaves together the ethics of medical work, the legacy of colonialism and the impact of trauma, into a thought-provoking study that spans decades and continents.
The screening on Saturday the 13th of September was followed by a Q&A with director Éanna Mac Cana and public health researcher John Manton. Hosted by film and festival producer Gerry Maguire.