A new documentary chronicling an experimental support plan for women with breast cancer will premiere this week at Duke University's Nasher Museum of Art.
The film, "What Love Is: The Duke Pathfinders 50," will be shown at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23 at the Nasher's auditorium. It is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a Q&A session featuring the film's director, Theodore Bogosian, a Duke graduate and instructor in the university's Program in the Arts of the Moving Image.
The 57-minute film follows 50 breast cancer patients and their caregivers through a two-year, experimental protocol aimed at finding a better way of life -- and death -- for cancer patients and families everywhere.
Women in the program met at least monthly and communicated via telephone and e-mail with a "Pathfinder," a Duke social worker trained to help them identify inner strengths and develop positive coping skills.
A few of the 50 women in the study are expected to attend the film premiere, along with their doctors, nurses and families.
The Q&A following the film will also feature The Rev. Sam Wells, dean of Duke Chapel; program Pathfinders Tina Staley and Kristin MacDermott; and participants in the study.
More information on the film is available at http://ami.duke.edu/events/2011/09/23/screen-society-world-premiere-of-the-duke-durham-focused-documentary-what-love-is-the-duke-pathfinders-50-q-a-reception-to-follow