"Your child has cancer." Hearing these words will profoundly change a family's life, plunging members into a world of uncertainty, emotional upheaval and excruciating decisions. Every year in the United States, approximately 12,500 children and adolescents are diagnosed with the disease. Several years ago, Dr. Robert Arceci, then chief oncologist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, contacted filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert to suggest that they make a film about childhood cancer. Dr. Arceci had been inspired by the film Hoop Dreams, and sought filmmakers who could make a similarly styled narrative documentary that follows families facing childhood cancer. At that time, Dr. Arceci had no idea that Bognar and Reichert had just seen their own teenage daughter through a year of chemotherapy and radiation. Anxious about going back into this world, yet drawn to a subject that had so deeply touched them, Bognar and Reichert accepted Dr. Arceci's offer to take up residence on wing 5A of Cincinnati Children's Hospital. They would spend much of the next six years documenting the experiences of five children and their families. The result is A LION IN THE HOUSE, an intimate, intense and ultimately inspiring documentary about ordinary people getting through the impossible. The two-part program, a presentation of INDEPENDENT LENS, airs on PBS, Wednesday-Thursday, June 21-22, 2006. Check local listings. From the trauma of diagnosis to the physical toll of treatment; the stress that can tear apart a family; and the children who face the possibility of death with courage, rebellion and dignity, A LION IN THE HOUSE is an unprecedented portrait of a life-altering experience captured in all its complex dimensions. As the film compresses six years into one narrative, A LION IN THE HOUSE puts viewers in the shoes of parents, physicians, nurses, siblings, grandparents and social workers as they struggle to defeat an indiscriminate and predatory disease. A LION IN THE HOUSE tells the stories of five children: Alex, a seven-year-old bundle of energy with dark eyes and curls; Tim, a mercurial, quick-witted 16-year-old with a thousand-watt smile; Justin, amiable and stalwart at 19 despite 10 years of fighting cancer; Jen, a serious, quiet six-year-old; and Al, a quicksilver, wry 11-year-old. Bognar and Reichert were given complete access to the children, their families and the medical teams treating them, resulting in stories with extraordinary detail. By taking their cameras inside hospital rooms, homes and staff meetings of the doctors and nurses, the filmmakers give audiences a chance to witness families and medical professionals as they wrestle with difficult questions and negotiate a plan of action in a field where there are few guideposts and fewer guarantees. Due to the recent changes in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and security laws, videotaping in any hospital is much more restricted. Bognar and Reichert could not have created such an unflinching portrait of the ups and downs of battling childhood cancer without the foresight and cooperation of a major hospital, physicians and the children's families. "Cancer goes hand-in-hand with huge uncertainty," said Bognar. "As we were filming, we saw how hard so many of the choices are, not only for the families but for the doctors as well. This movie, like real life, all happens in the present tense, so the doctors did not know what the outcome would be of the treatments that they discussed on camera. The fact that Cincinnati Children's Hospital gave us such unprecedented access was both incredibly courageous and a testament to the commitment they make to their patients." Julia Reichert recalls, "We were present for intimate, scary, inspiring and altogether heart-rending events. Points of view often diverged and nerves frayed as very hard decisions were faced every day. But everyone we observed cared deeply, no one was a bad guy, everyone was trying their best. Our task was to listen carefully to all, both to their words and to their hearts and then bear witness by making this film. Throughout these stories of struggle and resilience, however, there is one constant source of light and hope: the children. Even as they undergo the most brutal forms of intervention, even as they watch the world through a hospital room window, even as they confront their own mortality decades too early, they somehow remain children. "While caring for my daughter and while filming we were constantly reminded of the Isak Dinesen line, 'You know you are truly alive when you are living among lions,'" said Reichert. After spending so much time with the families and doctors in A LION IN THE HOUSE, especially during such intimate moments, Bognar and Reichert formed powerful and lasting bonds with the families. The filmmakers are no longer outsiders; their personal relationships continue today. A LION IN THE HOUSE will be accompanied by an extensive national community outreach campaign, carried out in partnership with preeminent organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the American Cancer Society, among 20 others. The goal is to transform viewer responses into actions that will improve care and strengthen support systems for everyone fighting childhood cancer, especially those who face socio-economic challenges.
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