Summaries of Public Health Films

2007 National Public Health Week Film Festival

All screenings begin at 5:30 p.m. in the newly renovated Mayo Memorial Auditorium on the East Bank of the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus.

Film Festival Co-sponsors:

• School of Public Health Student Senate
• Public Health Association - a student organization for undergraduates interested in public health
• Minnesota Public Health Association

Monday, April 2 -- Aging: Growing old and caring for the elderly

Living Old - 60 minutes (2006)

Medical advances have enabled an unprecedented number of Americans to live longer and healthier lives, but this new longevity has also had unintended consequences. This special looks at chronic illness in these individuals. With a health care system overburdened, many fear that we are on the threshold of a major crisis in care.

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Panel Moderator: Lee Graczyk, Executive Director of the Minnesota Senior Federation.

Panel of Speakers: Panel of Speakers: Norby Blake, director of Inner-Tribal Elder Services, member of the White Earth tribe, and Native American Elder; Malcolm Mitchell, executive director of the Elderberry Institute/Living at Home/Block Nurse Program, Inc.; Jackie Stewart, executive board member of the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging
Co-sponsors:
The Inner-Tribal Elder Services - works with Native American elders by offering information and referrals, advocacy programs, grandparent groups for those raising their grandchildren, nutrition assistance programs
Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging
Senior Federation
Elderberry Institute

Tuesday, April 3 -- HIV/AIDS: HIV in South Africa and Political Smokescreens
State of Denial- 83 minutes (2003)

Excellent story about how politics influences public health. "State of Denial takes an unprecedented and unflinching look at how the citizens of South Africa are living with the AIDS epidemic, given the climate of confusion and neglect perpetuated by President Mbeki's administration."

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Speaker: Speaker: Dr. James Neaton, Ph.D., professor of biostatistics at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Dr. Neaton is also the director of INSIGHT (International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials). INSIGHT represents a large collaboration of HIV/AIDS researchers in 37 countries. Their aim is to optimize the use of antiretroviral and other treatments to improve the health and prolong the lives of those infected with HIV. Hundreds of investigators and thousands of study participants have helped INSIGHT carry out the two largest HIV treatment trials done to date.

Co-sponsors:
Minnesota AIDS Project
American Red Cross
Red Door Clinic
The Aliveness Project

Wednesday, April 4 -- Climate Change: Global Warming’s Deadly Progress
An Inconvenient Truth- 100 minutes (2006)

"This film offers a passionate and inspirational look at one man's fervent crusade to halt global warming's deadly progress in its tracks by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it. That man is former Vice President Al Gore, who, in the wake of defeat in the 2000 election, re-set the course of his life to focus on a last-ditch, all-out effort to help save the planet from irrevocable change."

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Speaker: Dr. William Toscano, Ph.D., professor of environmental health
sciences, University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

Co-sponsors:
Minnesota Environmental Fund
Mississippi Market
Forum of Women in the Environmental Field
MN Center for Environmental Advocacy
Fresh Energy
Bell Museum
Minnesota Sustainable Communities Network

Thursday, April 5 -- Immigrant Health:
The Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America- 56 minutes (2001)

"THE SPLIT HORN is the sweeping story of a Hmong shaman and his family living in Appleton, Wisconsin. Documenting the 17-year journey of Paja Thao and his family from the mountains of Laos to the heartland of America, this poignant film shows a shaman's struggles to maintain his ancient traditions as his children embrace American culture."

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Speakers: Chu Wu, a Hmong Shaman
Co-sponsors:
UCARE
MDH Refugee Help Unit

Friday, April 6 -- Sex Education
Vintage Sex Hygiene Scare Film #1:

"It's Wonderful Being a Girl"

"Abstinence Comes to Albuquerque"
"Abstinence Comes to Albuquerque provides a glimpse into a nationwide debate over what young people should be taught about sexuality. Through personal stories, community profiles, and expert interviews, the program highlights the differences between a strict abstinence-only-until-marriage approach and more comprehensive sexuality education."

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"Think MTV: Campus Guide to Safer Sex"

"Vintage Sex Hygiene Scare film #2: "VD"

"Know for Sure" - 20 minutes (1941)
A syphilis warning film

"The Talk" -- Snippets of Trivia will be shown between films. The Minneapolis-based Youth Performance Group approaches the topic of sex education.

Speaker: Jenny Oliphant, MPH. Ms. Oliphant is the Community
Outreach Coordinator for the National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Research
Center (PRC), Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health, at the
University of Minnesota. There, she assists communities in developing
pregnancy prevention programming based on best practices in the fields of
youth development, community collaboration and adolescent health.

Co-sponsors:
Minnesota AIDS Project
Youth Performance Company
MOAPPP (Minnesota Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention and Parenting)
Singular Films
Something Weird Video
SHADE (Sexual Health Awareness and Disease Education)
Pro-Choice Resources
Red Door Clinic