Burden of Genius
Year: 2017
Country:
USA
Run Time:
88 minutes
In 1967 the world’s first successful liver transplant was performed by Dr. Thomas Starzl. Hailing from a small Iowa town, Starzl had watched his mother die in agony from cancer. This shattering experience drove him to pursue medicine and develop an obsessive yearning to find cures and alleviate suffering. Hailed as the greatest surgeon of the 20th century, in the early days of transplantation he was attacked as a monster, a ghoul, and even a murderer. These obstacles merely spurred him on. After moving to Pittsburgh in the 1980s, Starzl started refining transplant procedures, developing anti-rejection medications, and innovating multi-organ transplants. Since the ethics were evolving with the science, the battles over morality intensified. This is the BURDEN OF GENIUS, a fearless portrait of a fearless man, driven by narration from Dr. Starzl himself. Adding a panel of medical and ethical experts, some grateful recipients, some graphic surgical footage, and interviews with three of the world’s top transplant surgeons filmed at the Cleveland Clinic, BURDEN OF GENIUS is an inspiring, yet sobering, look into the joys (and costs) of progress. —C.R.
CIFF42 Screenings
Tower City Cinemas
Saturday, April 07, 2018 at 1:50 PM
- This screening is on Stand By.
Sunday, April 08, 2018 at 6:35 PM
- This screening is on Stand By.
Saturday, April 14, 2018 at 9:35 AM
Competition
Global Health Competition
Director
Tjardus Greidanus
Tjardus Greidanus was born in the Netherlands and immigrated to Canada as a teenager with his family. After graduating from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, he worked in Vancouver as an assistant director and locations manager for film and television productions. His first screenplay “A New York Heartbeat” was a quarter-finalist for the Academy of Motion Picture’s Nicholl Fellowships and marked his feature directorial debut.
Filmography
The Shot Felt 'Round the World (2010), A New York Heartbeat (2013), BURDEN OF GENIUS (2017)
Producers
Laura Davis, Carl Kurlander
Screenwriting
Tjardus Greidanus
Cinematography
Tjardus Greidanus
Editing
Tjardus Greidanus
Featuring
Dr. Thomas Starzl, David McCullough, David Crosby, Larry Kramer, Martine Rothblatt, Jamie Redford
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