«Someone You Love: The HPV Epidemic»
Filmmakers are honoring the life of their main character, who died of cervical cancer.
«Someone You Love: The HPV Epidemic» is a feature length documentary about HPV and cervical cancer narrated by Vanessa Williams. It follows the story of 5 inspiring women struggling with the devastating impact of cervical cancer caused by HPV. One of them, Kelly Pozzoli, allowed the filmmakers to follow her journey for more than 2 years from the time she was diagnosed until her death in 2014 on World Cancer Day. This July 22nd, Kelly would’ve been 35 years old. To honor her legacy, the filmmakers are making the film available for purchase online for just $1 during the month of July at hpvepidemic.vhx.tv.
Director Frederic Lumiere says, «We wanted to do something special to celebrate Kelly’s life and legacy. In just a short few months she became a major voice for cervical cancer awareness. She was the very first guest on the Jeff Probst Show. She was always thinking big and to celebrate her, we’re doing something bold.» For just$1, purchasers can buy a digital copy of the film and watch it anytime, forever. They can also buy multiple copies and send them as digital gifts.
During one of her last interviews, Kelly said, «I want people to benefit from all the crap I had to go through. I don’t want anyone else to ever have to do this.» Part educational and part moving human stories, the film has been used as a tool with much success by physicians, health departments, clinics, advocates and schools around the country to educate and inspire people to be proactive about their health.
It won the Best of Fest Award from the North Hollywood Cinefest and the Power of Film Award from the Beloit International Film Festival. The Indiana University School of Medicine is providing the film to physicians online as a Continuing Medical Education (CME).
Cervical cancer is caused by the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States: The Human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is so common that nearly all sexually active men and women get the virus at some point in their lives. As many as 93% of cervical cancers could be prevented by screening and HPV vaccination. (Source: CDC.gov).
