Virginia Film Festival

A month after receiving a rare, terminal cancer diagnosis, acclaimed writer and neurologist Oliver Sacks sat down for a series of limited interviews in his New York City apartment. Surrounded by his friends, family, and countless notebooks filled with decades worth of Sacks’ musings about how the brain operates, this documentary captures Sacks’ sense of wonder at the natural world, and the place of human beings within it. In combination with Sacks’ own reflections, director Ric Burns includes nearly two dozen deeply revealing and personal interviews with those closest to Sacks to provide an illuminating exploration into the relationships between art, science, and storytelling. Discussion with filmmaker Ric Burns and subject Bill Hayes, moderated by Cathy Campbell (UVA)

Supported by the Haney Consortium