Film And Speakers for World Health Day 2022
It’s World Health Day! Celebrated annually, this day was established by the World Health Organization (WHO) over 70 years ago to bring attention to global public health concerns. Each year the theme reflects the current priority of the WHO, and this year it is Our Planet, Our Health. This theme calls us to recognize the inequities in access to proper healthcare and resources as well the effects of commercial and political efforts on our planet and consequently its people. Today, we would like to encourage schools and communities to screen A PLACE TO BREATHE and host a GOOD TALK with speakers from the film. We are also highlighting a few other films that embody this year’s theme for World Health Day! All of these films are available for streaming and purchase through GOOD DOCS for your next school or organization event!
This film follows the stories of immigrant and refugee healthcare practitioners Rodrigue (DR Congo), Socheat (Cambodia), Norma (Guatemala), and couple Edgar and Yania (Mexico and Uruguay) as they pursue their dreams of supporting their communities’ healing while rising above their own obstacles. Through this film, we can explore the universality of trauma and resilience and learn about the ways in which immigrant populations in the U.S survive and thrive. The film humanizes those who have migrated here, sharing their wisdom and perspectives that enrich and strengthen our communities. A PLACE TO BREATHE moves audiences to envision new understandings of wellness for all.
Speakers for A PLACE TO BREATHE: Michelle Grace Steinberg (Filmmaker & Healthcare Practitioner), Rodrigue Kalambayi (Featured Perspective; Refugee & Community Health Worker), and Yania Escobar (Featured Perspective; DACA Recipient & Healthcare Practitioner)
Other Recommended Films:
INHABITANTS: Follow along as five Native American communities work to restore their traditional land practices that were disrupted by colonization and have proved to be essential in the height of the climate crisis.
- Speakers for INHABITANTS: Anna Palmer (Co-Director & Climate Change Researcher), Costa Boutsikaris (Filmmaker), Ben-Alex Dupris (Award-Winning Native American Producer), and Dr. Michael Kotutwa Johnson (Ph.D. in Natural Resources and Traditional Hopi Dryland Farmer)
- Speakers for EARTH WATER WOMAN: Akilah Jaramogi (Forester, Environmental Consultant, Social Entrepreneur, & Cultural Activist) and Diana Fox (Cultural Anthropologist, Professor, & Filmmaker)
- Speakers for CURED: Patrick Sammon (Filmmaker, Journalist, & LGBTQ advocate), Bennet Singer (Award-Winning Filmmaker & Author), and the activists featured in CURED.
MEDICATING NORMAL: Follows five people who are harmed by the very medications they believed would help them. It is the untold story of the serious consequences that can occur when market-driven medicine intersects with human beings in distress.
- Speakers for MEDICATING NORMAL: Lynn Cunningham (Award-Winning Filmmaker), Angela Peacock (Featured Perspective, Veteran, & Social Worker), and Custom Panel
ON THE DIVIDE: The stories of three Latinx people living in McAllen, Texas, a community lacking healthcare options, connected by the last abortion clinic on the U.S./Mexico border. Despite their opposing views, their stories reveal that the issue is not as black and white as it might seem.
- Speakers for ON THE DIVIDE: Maya Cueva (Award-Winning Latina Filmmaker) and Leah Galant (Award-Winning Jewish Filmmaker)
For more films and speakers for World Health Day, check out our climate justice, mental health & wellness, and public health equity speakers!