WVIZ/PBS: A Lion in the House: Home

"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.

A 2-hour program "A LION IN THE HOUSE" broadcast by WVIZ/PBS
on Wednesday, June 21 and June 22, 2006 from 9 - 11 PM will focus on childhood cancer.

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.

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.

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.

Additional information about this and related programming on WVIZ/PBS and 90.3 WCPN ideastream is presented in partnership with The Gathering Place, Hospice of the Western Reserve, The Center for Childhood Cancer, and Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital.

Visit the official website for the film A Lion in the House here.

Tuesday, June 20 during Morning News on 90.3 WCPN - Feature Story
This week, we focus on the topic of children with cancer - stories of struggle, survival and loss. Starting Wednesday night on WVIZ, the PBS documentary A Lion in the House will plunge viewers into the lives of five families who are trying to cope with their children's struggle with cancer. Over the course of four hours, the filmmakers show how the stress of this often terminal disease affects not just the patient, but also nearly everyone he or she touches. It's the focal point of our look all this week at childhood cancer. This morning we begin with the perspective of those who are often left out of the emotional equation - perhaps mistakenly so. That's the medical staff. ideastream's David C. Barnett examines who helps heal the healers. [More]

Wednesday, June 21 at 9:00 AM on 90.3 WCPN - 90.3 at 9
90.3 at 9 previews the showing of A Lion in the House with a look at childhood cancer. We'll talk with a parent who lost a child to a rare form of cancer last year and we'll talk with local organizations that use integrated approaches to help children who suffer the disease and offer counseling and support services to their families. [Listen to the program]

Wednesday, June 21 at 12:00 PM on 90.3 WCPN - Around Noon
Filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert are intimately familiar with childhood cancer. They spent six years following five families who fought childhood cancer. And, unbeknownst to the doctors who asked them to make the movie about pediatric cancer and these children and families who fought it, their own daughter had survived lymphoma. They spoke with ideastream's Dan Moulthrop about making the movie and why it's so difficult to talk about the end of life. [More]

See Also: Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar's documentary on childhood cancer had it's premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City Utah this past January. ideastream's David C. Barnett spoke with the filmmakers at Sundance about the origins of A Lion in the House. [More]

Wednesday, June 21 at 9:00 PM on WVIZ/PBS - Independent Lens: A Lion in the House, Part 1
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.

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.

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."

Thursday, June 22 at 8:00 PM on WVIZ/PBS - Ideas
The Fight We're Not Winning: In the fight against cancer, we are winning more than ever before. Cancer survival rates are up for just about every segment of the population, except teenagers. Cancer doctors are now acknowledging that in cancer research and treatment, teenagers are getting left out - and suffering. Others say the statistics can also be traced to the fact that parents, even doctors, just don't think teens get cancer. Often tell tale warning signs are overlooked as growing spurts or sports injuries. On the next Ideas, we'll look at the fight against cancer - that we're not winning - and talk about why.
The Power of A Picture: They are the little fighters, children coping with cancer. Now a nonprofit organization, Flashes of Hope, creates portraits of these brave kids, helping them feel better about their changing appearance, by celebrating it. Award winning photographers in cities all over the country turn hospital rooms into photo shoots, creating lasting images that reveal hope, bravery and determination. Flashes of Hope now operates in over five cities, with 25 more cities on waiting lists, but it all began in Beachwood, Ohio. On the next Ideas, meet founder Allison Clark and see the pictures you'll never forget.

Thursday, June 22 at 9:00 PM on WVIZ/PBS - Independent Lens: A Lion in the House, Part 2
See description for Part 1 above.

Thanks to our partners - The Center for Survivors of Childhood Cancer, Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, Hospice of the Western Reserve, The Gathering Place and The Cleveland Public Library.