Cinema Chats: “Oliver Sacks: His Own Life”
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Neurologist and author, Oliver Sacks, died of cancer in 2015 at the age of 82. For a long time, he was a traumatized, troubled man. This documentary, directed by Ric Burns, was finished shortly before his death. Sacks knew he was dying when he spoke about his life and work in Oliver Sacks: His Own Life(2019). A mix of archival footage, still imagery, talking-head interviews, and in-the-moment narrative, Oliver Sacks: His Own Life illuminates details of what can only be called an extraordinary existence. In the documentary, Sacks reflects on his battles with drug addiction, homophobia, and a medical establishment that refused to accept his work for decades. It also follows how the film drama Awakenings (1990), based on Sacks’s nonfiction book of the same name, mended his public persona and led to his acceptance by the medical establishment that once rejected him.
We recommend you watch the film in advance of this lecture. Oliver Sacks: His Own Life can be streamed on Prime Video, Apple, and Google Play.
Please see the Zoom link in your order confirmation email. This program is entirely virtual.
Nell Minow has been reviewing movies as “The Movie Mom” since 1995 and appears each week on radio stations across the country to talk about the week’s releases in theaters and on DVD/Blu-Ray/streaming. She is Contributing Editor and critic for rogerebert.com and has more reviews and features on moviemom.com. She can also be seen on Medium and The Credits. She is a member of the Washington Area Film Critics Association, the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Online Film Critics Association, and the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. She is the author of several books about movies including The Movie Mom’s Guide to Family Movies and 101 Must-See Movie Moments.
Image Credit: "Oliver Sacks: His Own Life" (2019), IMDb.
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