Documentary Raises Cervical Cancer Awareness At North Hollywood CineFest
NORTH HOLLYWOOD (CBSLA.com) — Cervical cancer has been one of the most persistent killers of women for decades.
"Someone You Love: The HPV Epidemic" takes a hard look at the disease and the lives of five women battling it.
It's a documentary that's been made the focus of the week-long North Hollywood CineFest.
CineFest Director Gustavo Sampaio, who also works at CBS2/KCAL9, was joined by the film's producer Mark Hefti Saturday to discuss the making of the project at KCAL9 Studios.
"We wanted to have an opportunity to serve the community in some way. And when we received this documentary, I knew that was it," Sampaio said.
Hefti says it took nearly four years to complete the film.
"The main thing for us is finding the right people, and the people we had behind the film and the subject matters we followed, the women we had, their stories are all very compelling, and they are all very compelling people, well-spoken and articulate," Hefti said. "We knew there was an opportunity there to de-stigmatize cervical cancer and HPV, and to help talk about it - because that's something we need to do, is talk about it."
The producer added, "It's a very vulnerable cancer. You're dealing with some very intimate issues, and there had to be a definite trust established between these women and us, the filmmakers. They were amazing and just opened up their lives. I don't know if I could do it, watching people go through the pains of all the treatments."
You can watch "Someone You Love" Saturday night at North Hollywood CineFest at 5 p.m. Tickets are available online and at the box office.
