Medical Humanities Podcast

One Year Anniversary, MH editor

In this podcast, Associate Editor Angela Woods interviews Brandy Schillace, Editor-in-Chief of the Medical Humanities journal, at the one-year anniversary of her editorship. Brandy talks about the changes in the journal and what we can expect in the next year; she also takes a moment to celebrate the current and upcoming issues, authors, and contributors. We hope you will join the conversation at MH, by visiting the blog https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/ and journal site, https://mh.bmj.com/pages/, or by following us on Twitter (@MedHums_BMJ) and Facebook (@Medical.Humanities).

Talk to her: Arab women unveil taboos

Three film industry women talk mental health and violence.
‘Mamsous- Deranged’ is a short film about mental health and well-being through the story of three people, who share their experiences with clinical depression and panic attacks. It was directed by Shatha Masoud, an Emarati filmmaker who started her own advertising and video production business. Mamsous won the best ‘Muhr Emarati short film award’ in Dubai International Film Festival in 2016.
Amal Alharbi who features in 'Mamsous' is a Saudi author whose first book about mental health based on her own experience will be released in 2018.
‘Animal- Haywan’ is a short Emarati film about a seven-year-old child who grows up in a home of contradictions – a father, who is a “sociopath and narcissist”, a weak, but ambitious mother and a flamboyant cook? It was directed by Nayla Al Khaja, the CEO of Nayla Al Khaja Films and the founder of The Scene Club, Dubai’s first licensed film club. ANIMAL won Best Short Fiction (Italian Movie Award 2017). She won the Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 at the Gulf Business Awards.
More information on The Medical HUmanities blog: http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2017/01/02/film-review-dubai-international-film-festival/.
http://mh.bmj.com/

How do we find meaning when we are going to die?

Dr Khalid Ali, Medical Humanities film and media correspondent, interviews Dr Amy Hardie at the Sudan Independent Film Festival where she held a training workshop for film students.
Dr Amy Hardie is a documentary film-maker with several international awards. Her documentary feature The Edge of Dreaming, was the first Scottish feature documentary to be selected for competition at IDFA in 2009 and was awarded the Grand Jury Prize, Kiev International Film Festival. She graduated from the National Film and Television School in 1990 with the BP Expo prize for best student documentary (Kafi’s Story). Her latest film 'Seven songs for a long life' explores music and creativity in a hospice setting.
Amy and Khalid reflect on storytelling, and film as therapy.
Please visit the Medical Humanities website (mh.bmj.com/) and blog (blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/).

Psychiatry, old age and relationships in Professor Robert Abrams’ words

Family relationships, traumas from childhood echo in love life, dementia and geriatrics. In this broad interview, Professor of Old Age Psychiatry, Robert Abrams (Weill Cornell University, New York, USA) tells the Screening Room editor of Medical Humanities Khalid Ali about his contributions to the journal.
Robert Abrams was interviewed at the Cairo Medfest, the First Arab Forum for Medicine in Film, in January 2017.
Please visit the Medical Humanities website (http://mh.bmj.com/) and blog (http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/).
More information on the books and films mentioned in this interview below:
The violet hour - book review: http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2016/06/10/the-reading-room-the-violet-hour-great-writers-at-the-end/;
Never let me go - essay: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26578716;
Manequin - film review: http://dev.blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2016/12/07/film-review-mannequin/;
Crying with laughter - film review: http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2016/08/11/film-review-crying-with-laughter/;
Studio - film review: http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2016/05/31/the-screening-room-old-age-loneliness-and-cinema/?utm_source=TrendMD&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Medical_Humanities__TrendMD-0;
Dry, hot summer - film review: http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2016/01/04/khalid-ali-taxi-ride-to-eternity-review-of-dry-hot-summers/?utm_source=TrendMD&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Medical_Humanities__TrendMD-0.

Auditory hallucinations, agoraphobia and extremism as portrayed by actor Ahemed Magdy

In this podcast, the Screening Room editor of Medical Humanities Khalid Ali explores the role of film in shining a light on mental illlness, dysfnctional families and the rise of religious fanaticism with Egyptian director Ahmed Magdy.
Recently introduced to acting, Ahmed talks about his portrayal of three challenging characters: a young man imprisoned in his mother's house in 'Gate of Departure, Kareem Hanafi, 2015', an extremist who converts from Islam to Christianity in 'The preacher, Magdy Ahmed Ali, 2016', and a man troubled with persistent auditory hallucinations and a legacy of inherited mental illness in 'Ali, the goat and Ibrahim, Sherif Elbendary, 2016'.
Ahmed Magdy studied Law in Ain Shams University, but pursued his passion for film by taking part in the Independent cinema scene in Egypt since 2008. Ahmed produced and directed a couple of independent films, and directed his own short "A cake filled with cream".
To read more about Medical Humanities, please visit the journal's website (http://mh.bmj.com/) and blog (blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities).
More details on the films mentioned in this podcast:
• Gate of departure
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt4796556/
• The preacher
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/preacher-955026
• Ali, the goat and Ibrahim
http://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/ali-the-goat-and-ibrahim-review-1201948436/.

Living and ‘loving life’ in a sanatorium: interview with Radu Jude, Romanian director

‘Scarred hearts’ is a thought-provoking semi-autobiographical film based on the period Max Belceher (Romanian author) spent in a sanatorium in 1934 recovering from Pott’s disease (Tuberculosis of the spine).
In this podcast Khalid Ali explores with Radu Jude (the film director) the physical and mental hardships experienced by patients with TB, as well as the sense of community and companionship that can develop during their confinement.
On the 24th March 1882 Dr Robert Koch discovered the TB bacillus. Nowadays this date is hailed as the ‘World TB day’ to increase public awareness that TB still remains an epidemic claiming lives from developing countries.
Read more about this interview on the Medical Humanities blog: http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2017/03/21/romanticizing-tubercolosis/.

Khaled Abol Naga: Acting as a calling and social activism

In this podcast, Khalid Ali meets Khaled Abol Naga, one of the most popular faces in Egypt and with strong links to the UK.
He prefers to be introduced as an “actor”, but is also a well-known filmmaker, a UNICEF goodwill ambassador and a political activist.
During his latest visit to London, Khaled Abol Naga spoke with the Screening Room Editor of Medical Humanities about his long and diverse career and how his characters taught him about the human condition, mental illness or age.
They speak about Khaled’s involvement with the refugee crisis on the Charles Dickens’ musical Oliver adaptation to Arabic; his latest participation on the TV series ‘Tyrant’; and a therapy for students, which brought Egypt’s taboos to the cinema screen.

”To age or not to age”, Tom Kinninmont about his co-writing ”The Carer”

In this podcast, Tom Kinninmont, co-writer of the British film 'The Carer', tells Khalid Ali, Medical Humanities Screening Room Editor, the details of the picture which brings Parkinson's disease, ageing, care for old people, intergenerational problems, stardom egos and Shakespeare quotes all together to the big screen.
In this conversation recorded during the Edinburgh film festival, where the film was screened in June, the Scottish writer with a long career in theatre and TV. also talks about his famous work with Peter O'Toole and other legendary British names.
The Carer is released on the 5th August 2016 in London and will be showing in more cinemas in the Autumn.
Read the film review at the Medical Humanities blog here: http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2016/08/03/film-review-the-carer.

’Bernie and Rebecca’ is Melissa Kent’s directorial debut: ”a lifetime of emotions in 15 minutes”

In this podcast, Khalid Ali speaks to Melissa Kent, Hollywood film editor, about her debut as a director with "Bernie and Rebecca", at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, which explores "a lifetime of emotions in 15 minutes".
The short film had its UK premiere during the Scottish festival, in June, and will be available on the Internet in January 2017. It has also been selected to three upcoming festivals:
MADRID INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (July 2–9) - nominated for Best Director of a Short Film and Nominated for Best Original Screenplay of a Short Film;
GO WEST FEST (July 17–19) Oakhurst, California;
ACTION ON FILM FESTIVAL (AOF) Early acceptance. Monrovia, California (September 2–10).
Melissa Kent also tells the Medical Humanities' Screening Room Editor the stories behind other films she edited, such as "The Virgin Suicides" and "The Age of Adaline", which throws a different perspective into the concept of fighting ageing. Her next feature film is "American Pastoral", based on the 1997 Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Philip Roth, Ewan McGregor’s directorial debut. "American Pastoral" is released in October 2016.
Watch the trailer at www.bernieandrebecca.com, and to learn more about Melissa Kent’s editing career visit www.melissakent.com. 
The 70th edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival was held from the 15th to the 26th of June 2016, in Scotland.

The Nightingales: Sudan’s First women band: music for healing and hope

The three Sudanese sisters The Nightingales (or 'Al-balabil'), who have been singing for 45 years, are doing their first world tour.
On their stop for a concert in London, at the end of May, they spoke with Khalid Ali, the Medical Humanities' Screening Room Editor, about their memories as children in Sudan and the power of their music in supporting people with illnesses. A conversation with a lot of music involved.