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Filmmaker Rob Tinworth screens his documentary, "The Life Equation," on Tuesday, January 23, 2018, to kick off McGill University's first Global Health Film Festival in Montreal and its Campus Consortium partnership with the Pulitzer Center.
Ann Peters, university and community outreach director, joins Tinworth for the daylong visit that also includes conversations with students and faculty during classes and informal sessions.
"The Life Equation" is a Pulitzer Center-supported documentary following the stories of health care workers and patients around the globe, specifically in Guatemala and Nepal, and examining what role Big Data may play in determining medical choices. Among the individuals Tinworth follows is Crecencia Buch, an impoverished woman fighting cancer in Guatemala.
"Her life depends on decisions made by doctors and donors, decisions increasingly driven by Big Data. It's a scientific, evidence-based approach that cuts through the emotion and promises to optimize health care delivery," writes Tinworth of Buch's situation. "But what, and who, gets lost in all the number crunching?"
The McGill Global Health Film Festival runs for three days through Thursday, January 25, and includes documentary screenings, discussions, and Q&A sessions centering around topics related to global health. In addition, students have the opportunity to learn about health related groups on campus through tabling and demonstrations.
McGill University Global Health Programs is one of the newest partners within the Pulitzer Center’s Campus Consortium network, which engages students in international reporting and raises awareness of underreported global issues.