Women denied abortions under Texas’ ambiguous and unforgiving abortion bans band together with a fearless attorney to sue Texas. While battling in court against the state and its immovable Attorney General, the extent of their traumatic experiences is revealed as they wrestle to regain their reproductive futures and set a precedent for millions of other women and families. ZURAWSKI V TEXAS reveals the dire impact of losing access to healthcare—and the extraordinary efforts of the women and men fighting on the frontline to regain those rights.

Reception and screening were followed by a panel and community discussion with the filmmakers, Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault, and Brown School of Public Health and Alpert Medical School Associate Professor Liz Tobin-Tyler.

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. The Series is 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

Power of the Dream is a new documentary film about the empowering and unlikely true story of how a group of professional women's basketball players took on a WNBA team owner and rallied behind now-Senator Raphael Warnock, forever changing the landscape of their sport and the course of U.S. politics.

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 this series showcases the power of storytelling as a public health intervention. The Series is 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.

"Story is a way people come together to solve problems... At a time when there is a critical need to create and provide credible public health information, storytelling – through film, music, art and more – can be a valuable resource." –Dr. Jennifer Galvin '95 (Filmmaker in Residence)

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.

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

94 minutes / USA / 2023
https://www.anonymoussister.com/

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

February 5, 2024: "Mossville: When Great Trees Fall" Film Screening and Panel Discussion

The second installment of the Pandemic Center’s “Our Storied Health” series highlights environmental injustice in the American South, and explores the potential of storytelling to advance public health.

Read the full article about this event from the Brown University School of Public Health. 

Mossville: When Great Trees Fall
55 minutes / USA / 2019
http://www.mossvilleproject.com/

October 30, 2023: Film Screening and Panel Discussion: "Shot in the Arm" and Public Health Communication

The Our Storied Health Series launched with a screening of Scott Hamilton Kennedy's Shot in the Arm and a panel discussion on narrative in public health communication moderated by Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo and featuring journalist Maggie Fox and Dr. Jennifer Galvin.

Scott Hamilton Kennedy (THE GARDEN, FOOD EVOLUTION) had begun investigating the global measles epidemic. It was long before anyone had heard of COVID-19. He was filming with top public health officials–including Tony Fauci–as well as rare interviews with anti-vaccine activists who were persuading parents by the millions to refuse vaccines for their children.

Then COVID-19 happened.

Acting quickly, Kennedy shifted his directorial eye to this once-in-a-century tragedy. Both skeptical and hopeful, SHOT IN THE ARM explores vaccine hesitancy historically and in the context of our modern pandemic. Can we replace cynicism with healthy curiosity and bridge the political divides that make us sick?