CAMBRIDGE, Mass. –– The second of three scheduled test screenings of ON THE LAKE: Life and Love in a Distant Place, a documentary movie about the tuberculosis epidemic in America in the 1900s and globally today, will be held will be at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13, at Harvard Hall, Harvard College.
Filmmakers David Bettencourt and G. Wayne Miller will speak at the showing of ON THE LAKE, which is scheduled for PBS broadcast in March 2009. This showing is free and open to the public. The movie will premiere at the Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket, R.I., on Feb. 13.
ON THE LAKE is the first production from Eagle Peak Media, a multi-media company founded in May by Bettencourt, the award-winning director of YOU MUST BE THIS TALL: The Story of Rocky Point Park, and Miller, journalist and author of seven books. Two more Eagle Peak documentaries are in pre-production.
The first test screening of ON THE LAKE was held last month in Pittsburgh, before an audience of nearly 100 people. The final test screening will be before a private audience on Dec. 3.
While less of a public health issue in America today than in the early 1900s, when much of the film is set, it remains epidemic on the planet. Tuberculosis is the number-two infectious disease killer globally today, according to the World Health Organization, with nearly two million deaths and nine million new cases in 2006, the last year for which data is available. The only disease with a higher worldwide mortality is HIV/AIDS.
Audience reaction from the Pittsburgh screening suggests that the filmmakers have succeeded in bringing powerful emotion and personal stories to the screen. “Our aim was not to produce a ‘disease-of-the-week’ movie, but rather a compelling narrative of real people,” Miller said. “Against this tragic backdrop, against the many deaths, we found love stories and stories of triumph.”
Harvard Hall is located at the main entrance to Harvard Yard, which is in the center of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass.
For more information about the movie, visit www.OnTheLakeMovie.com.
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This is not an RIFC Production)