The Institute of International Education, West Coast Center (IIE WCC) – with Producer/Director Jessie Deeter and in partnership with the Health Authority Abu Dhabi – proudly presents Healing and Hope, a documentary that shares stories of breast cancer survivors in Abu Dhabi, UAE. This film is an intimate yet educational portrait that includes interviews with survivors, their families, and their doctors about the experience of fighting breast cancer.
Healing and Hope
- The film was shot in homes, offices, medical clinics, schools, and other settings of everyday life, providing a local face for breast cancer in a country where many women still feel that the disease cannot happen to them, and that it is always fatal.
- While conveying the urgency of early detection, this film – targeted to local women – aims to demystify the disease, break down myths and stereotypes, and give women a voice to speak out on an issue that affects them and their families profoundly but remains taboo.
- The film’s main themes were crafted around gaps identified in a community profile of Abu Dhabi conducted by the Global Initiative staff and participants in 2008.
- The film debuted in October 2009 in conjunction with the Middle East Film Festival in Abu Dhabi, where it also aired on network television and in a variety of educational settings.
- The film was an official selection and screened at Breast Fest Film Festival in Toronto, Ontario on November 21st, 2010