The short documentary by Stanford videographer Mark Hanlon captures Paul Kalanithi’s shifting perception of time while living with terminal cancer.
August 5, 2016
The School of Medicine’s video about neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi’s reflections on life while facing death from metastatic cancer has been nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy Award presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
The video, “A strange relativity: Altered time for surgeon-turned-patient,” was nominated in the New Approaches: Arts, Lifestyle, Culture category, along with pieces by The New York Times, The Center for Investigative Reporting, National Geographic Magazine and PBS. The video was produced by Mark Hanlon, video director of the medical school’s Office of Communication & Public Affairs.
The video was an online companion to an essay by Kalanithi published in the spring 2015 issue of Stanford Medicine magazine. In the essay and the video, Kalanithi described how his perception of time changed as a first-time father and doctor-turned-patient facing a terminal diagnosis. Kalanithi, who never smoked, was diagnosed with stage-4 lung cancer at age 36 in May 2013. The essay and video were published just a few weeks before he died on March 9, 2015.
Hanlon produced, photographed and edited the video and wrote and performed the film score.
The full list of nominees is available online. The award presentation is Sept. 21 at Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City.
About Stanford Medicine
Stanford Medicine is an integrated academic health system comprising the Stanford School of Medicine and adult and pediatric health care delivery systems. Together, they harness the full potential of biomedicine through collaborative research, education and clinical care for patients. For more information, please visit med.stanford.edu.
