The statistics are oft-reported, but people tend to shy away or plain old flee from hearing about it. It’s breasts, it’s private, it’s happening to someone you know and you’d rather it wasn’t, hadn’t, won’t. This work gently takes you by the hand in a calm, reflective manner, and offers you a chance to listen to people who speak from experience. Myriad concerns are shared, addressed, imagined by a broad ethnic mix of women. How it feels to have a breast exam, to be diagnosed, to find a healing path, to have misplaced a prosthetic breast are only some of the subjects addressed through interviews and readings. The pacing and musical interludes work well. Good general information is offered for women facing or afraid of facing breast cancer, and for caregivers, family members, and even medical folk. This sensitively produced documentary is variously intimate, informative, even ironic, and given the statistics, it should be heard by us all.
Can be aired during women’s history month, at a time of legislative, medical, or environmental news related to breast cancer, as part of public health programming. It is an act of public service in and of itself. sl