Editor’s Note: Brock Fowler, stills photographer for The Passageway, is an employee of The Post.
A film made by a group of Ohio University undergraduates might soon be used in medical schools across the country to educate about cancer treatment.
The Passageway tells the story of a woman who has lost both parents to cancer. The film, a project for MDIA 419, received a $5,000 grant from the American Cancer Society.
David Jeffries, a senior studying video production, said his personal experiences helped him relate to the production of the film.
“When I was a senior in high school, my dad was diagnosed with testicular cancer,” he said. “I very much related to the story. I wanted to find a way that I could also participate in the open dialogue about cancer, being able to give back through the integration of a film that could then be used as a platform for discussion.”
The Passageway was filmed over the period of a month in Southeastern Ohio and is currently in post-production.
Joe Battaglia, a sophomore studying video production, worked lighting on the set.
“This is going to be a project that I look back on and think, ‘Wow, that really meant something,’” he said. “People say movies are just movies, but they’re not. People connect and relate to films.”
The film is tentatively set to premiere June 5 at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium, Jeffries said.
The importance of not taking a diagnosis at face value is emphasized, Battaglia said.
“Ask questions when you talk to doctors,” he said. “Make sure you know what is going on. Don’t just let them tell you you’re doing fine. Fine is vague, but cancer isn’t.”
Jeffries, co-director and director of photography, said the goal of the film is to educate medical professionals about the importance of quality end-of-life care.
“I dealt with the same situations that the story does,” he said. “Through that, I started to be able to connect to the idea of being able to tell other people the story, to tell people the ideas that come along with being a caregiver that you can’t really experience unless you’ve had that first-hand experience yourself.”
Battaglia said his father was diagnosed with cancer in November 2009.
“I hope that if someone else has to go through this, they’ll get all the information they need,” Battaglia said. “Because, let’s face it: cancer sucks.”
cd234008@ohiou.edu
@ThePostCulture
