Educational Media Reviews Online

As is customary with many Fanlight documentaries, this program takes the point of view of an engaging person diagnosed with an illness – in this case, breast cancer – and follows her from diagnosis through treatment and beyond. “Janice,” the film’s lively subject, is relatively young at diagnosis, only 33, and the disease has advanced to the point that her prognosis is considered poor by the time she is finally diagnosed correctly. The situation is made even more poignant by the fact that when she was still in her teens, Janice witnessed her own mother’s untimely death from breast cancer. Throughout the film the parallels between the mother and daughter’s struggles are highlighted. Likewise the personal perspective also shifts regularly to the global as Janice’s plight is compared to that of women everywhere facing this disease. One startling statistic provided is that of the increasing incidence of breast cancer, which has gone up 1% per year since the 1940’s to its current one-in-eight profile. Honest, moving and ultimately hopeful, this film is likely to be well-received by patients, support groups and healthcare providers alike.