ENGLISH SURGEON COMES TO STF
- by Thom Powers, April 02, 2009
STF’s spring season kicks off with THE ENGLISH SURGEON. Posing after the Q&A: Thom Powers in his best English tweed (by way of a Vietnamese tailor); director Geoffrey Smith; and Henry Marsh, the surgeon who describes himself as a narcissist but comes off as an altruist - proving they’re not incompatible.
Read a full report of the film on the Britical blog, excerpted here:
After the film, Marsh gets up on stage for a brief Q & A. I want to ask him why, of all people, we see him in the film riding his bike without a helmet - but I decide this is a bit cheeky. Later, I chat with him in the bar, and, discovering that he trained the surgeon who treated my Mother, forget to enquire. I head home on the subway and remember something: he had admitted, unprompted, that surgeons are by necessity risk-takers, and, he laughed, “narcissists”. Maybe that’s the clue to the helmet thing. More importantly, though, his honest acknowledgement indicates a duality possessed by very few: the professional All Powerful God-in-a-white-coat half we know all too well. But in Henry Marsh we witness also that which is rare: a thing comprised of humility, empathy, responsibility. He clearly feels it is his duty as both a doctor and a human being to look an absolutely horrifying situation right in the face and not turn away. And after that, to just “get on with it”, to do whatever you can, however small, and however imperfectly, to make it better.
After the screening, the crowd packed into 99 Below for drinks late into the night. Among the revelers were Josh Levin of Gallant Films; Hilla Medalia, director of TO DIE IN JERUSALEM and the forthcoming AFTER THE STORM; and filmmaker RUTH SOMALO, whose doc about singer James Blunt TIL YOU’RE TOLD TO STOP will soon be hitting the festival circuit.
Director Geoffrey Smith with Simon Kilmurry, the head of POV where THE ENGLISH SURGEON will eventually be shown on PBS.
Comments
just read it - now am in tears. Britical you write so bloody well, I want 1000’s and more to read your words !
– .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (04/03 at 03:06 AM)
Page 1 of 1 pages of comments
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.Join the STF Mailing List »
Upcoming Screenings
Sep 20: THE HOUSE OF STEINBRENNER
by Barbara KoppleSTF pre-season MONDAY SPECIAL (Season passes now on sale at early bird rate through Thurs. Sept. 16; Individual tickets go on sale Fri. Sept. 17, subject to availability) Love them or hate them, ...
Get More info or Buy Tickets »
Sep 28: MARWENCOL
by Jeff MalmbergSTF Fall Season Opening Night (Season passes now on sale at early bird rate through Thurs. Sept. 16; Individual tickets go on sale later in Sept.) STF kicks off its fall season with MARWENCOL, ...
Get More info or Buy Tickets »
Oct 5: AMERICAN SPLENDOR
by Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini(Season passes now on sale at early bird rate through Thurs. Sept. 16; Individual tickets go on sale later in Sept.) STF pays tribute to Harvey Pekar, who recently died, with this special screening ...
Get More info or Buy Tickets »
Oct 12: ON COAL RIVER
by Francine Cavanaugh & Adams WoodCoal River Valley, West Virginia is a community surrounded by lush mountains and a looming toxic threat. ON COAL RIVER follows a former miner and his neighbors in a David-and-Goliath struggle for ...
Get More info or Buy Tickets »
Oct 19: THE CANAL STREET MADAM
by Cameron YatesUntil an FBI bust upended her life, Jeanette Maier was a successful New Orleans madam. Her discreet clientele included a number of powerful, high-ranking politicians. The ensuing very public trial - ...
Get More info or Buy Tickets »
Oct 26: TAKING ON THE KENNEDYS
by Joshua Seftel“A film that would be mistaken for a Robert Altman political satire if it weren’t absolutely and horribly true.” —USA TODAY When Kevin Vigilante took on Patrick Kennedy for a seat in the U.S. House ...
Get More info or Buy Tickets »
Nov 2: WO AI NI MOMMY (I LOVE YOU MOMMY)
by Stephanie Wang-BrealIn presenting WO AI NI MOMMY with the Sterling Award for Best US Feature this past June, the jury at Silverdocs noted: “The film dives so deeply into its story that the filmmaker’s hands disappear. ...
Get More info or Buy Tickets »
Nov 9: WAR DON DON
by Rebecca Richman CohenProfiled in Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces in Independent Film as an “up-and-comer poised to shape the next generation of independent film”, Rebecca Richman Cohen won Special Jury at SXSW and the ...
Get More info or Buy Tickets »
Nov 16: 12TH & DELAWARE
by Heidi Ewing & Rachel GradyHeidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, the filmmaking team behind the 2006 Oscar-nominated doc JESUS CAMP, take us on another controversial journey with 12TH & DELAWARE. Description from Sundance 2010 ...
Get More info or Buy Tickets »
Nov 23: MARLENE
by Maximilian SchellDirector Maximilian Schell got the reclusive Marlene Dietrich to agree to appear in this documentary only on the stipulation that she not be photographed as she looked today. Instead, we only hear ...
Get More info or Buy Tickets »
Nov 30: SURVIVING HITLER: A LOVE STORY
by John-Keith WassonWinner of the Inspiration Award at the 2010 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival As a teenager in Nazi Germany, Jutta is shocked to discover she is Jewish. She joins the German resistance and meets ...
Get More info or Buy Tickets »
