by Annette Basile
Worth: $16.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Hugh Jackman, Deborah Hutton, Cate Campbell, Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew
Intro:
There’s genuine passion behind this documentary, which goes beyond statistics to tell personal and moving stories.
Sunbaker – it’s an iconic photo, taken in 1938 by the late Australian photographer Max Dupain. It’s a striking black and white image that depicts our cultural relationship with the sun and the outdoors.
That image features in this educational documentary that’s aimed at shifting our sun and tanning obsessions – because these obsessions are killing us. The statistics revealed here are sobering – and frightening. Some 400,000 Australians are diagnosed each year with a form of skin cancer, 1 million skin cancers have been removed this year alone, and – incredibly – two out of three Aussies will be diagnosed with skin cancer.
There’s genuine passion behind this documentary, which goes beyond statistics to tell personal and moving stories. One of these stories comes from Hugh Jackman, who speaks openly about his own skin cancer diagnosis.
Other famous faces here include surfers, skaters and swimmers, plus model Deborah Hutton. The documentary makes the point that skin cancer is not an ‘old person’s disease’, as highlighted by Olympic swimmer Cate Campbell, who was diagnosed with stage 1 skin cancer in her twenties.
Melanoma caught early, as in Campbell’s case, is one of “the most curable cancers”. But by the time it gets to stage 4, melanoma has the highest mortality rates of any type of cancer.
This is an important and well-presented documentary that points out not enough is being done to educate Aussies about the risks of going out unprotected in the sun.
It’s not a gloomy film, showing the advances in skin cancer treatments and how easy it is to prevent the disease. By the time you finish watching Conquering Skin Cancer, sunbakers on the beach – like the one depicted by Max Dupain – will just look like crazy people to you.
Head to the film’s website for more information.
