April 3, 2024: Anonymous Sister Film Screening and Panel Discussion
Granoff Center for the Creative Arts | Presented by the Brown Arts Institute and the the Pandemic Center
“AN INTIMATE LOOK AT WHO WE SEE AT THE HEART OF ADDICTION.” – NPR
When a young woman turns to the camera for refuge, she ends up with a firsthand account of what will become the deadliest man-made epidemic in United States history. Thirty years in the making, Anonymous Sister is Emmy Award®-winning director, Jamie Boyle’s chronicle of her family’s collision with the opioid epidemic.
The screening was followed by a panel and community discussion with filmmaker Jamie Boyle, addiction specialist Dr. Josiah “Jody” Rich, and epidemiologist Dr. Alexandria Macmadu.
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Jamie Boyle is a two-time Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker living in Brooklyn, NY. Her work has played at Sundance, Tribeca, and SXSW. Most recently, Boyle wrote and edited Breaking The News, which premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival and currently airs on PBS. Her feature directorial debut, Anonymous Sister, was shortlisted for the 2023 IDA Best Documentary Award and opened to critical acclaim in theaters June 2023. Produced by Big Mouth Productions (Dick Johnson Is Dead) and Vulcan Productions (Summer of Soul), Boyle directed, filmed, and edited Anonymous Sister, a chronicle of her family’s collision with the opioid epidemic that spans over three decades.
Dr. Josiah “Jody” Rich, MD, MPH is a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Brown. Rich is a practicing infectious disease and addiction specialist providing care to patients at The Miriam Hospital and the Rhode Island Department of Corrections since 1994. He has advocated for public health policy changes to improve the health of people with addiction, including improving legal access to sterile syringes and increasing drug treatment for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated populations. More recently he has focused on addressing the opioid overdose epidemic. Rich has testified in congress multiple times and served as an expert advisor to the Rhode Island Governor’s Overdose Task Force since its inception in 2015.
Dr. Alexandria “Alex” Macmadu, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and a member of thePeople, Place and Health Collective (PPHC) at Brown. Macmadu is a substance use epidemiologist and her program of research: (1) examines the social determinants of drug use and overdose; (2) investigates evidence-based approaches to mitigate drug-related harms; and (3) advances justice and health equity in marginalized subgroups, including BIPOC communities, people who use drugs, and persons affected by the criminal legal system. Macmadu is a multi-Brown alumna, having received her PhD in epidemiology (’22), her MSc in behavioral and social sciences (’15), and her BA in ethics (’14).
Our Storied Health Film and Media Series is a year-long integrated media experience that illuminates the importance of our collective health and what can be done to enhance it.
Through film screenings, campus conversations, and how-to workshops, this series showcases the power of storytelling as a public health intervention. Our Storied Health is being curated by Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, Director of the Pandemic Center of the Brown School of Public Health, with epidemiologist and documentary filmmaker Dr. Jennifer Galvin ’95.
This event is part of Brown Arts IGNITE Series.
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Anonymous Sister
When a young woman turns to the camera for refuge, she ends up with a firsthand account of what will become the deadliest man-made epidemic in United States history. Thirty years in the making, Anonymous Sister is Emmy Award-winning director, Jamie Boyle's chronicle of her family's collision with the opioid epidemic.
“Searing, achingly personal… an impressive feat of editing.” – Roger Ebert
“An authenticity and personal investment that few films on this subject could match.” – Film Threat
“A full-on cinematic disquisition on the terrible, rippling side effects and consequences of the pharmaceutical industry’s greed, which in turn reflects capitalistic rapaciousness more broadly.” – Golden Globes
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