'Burkitt' with Q&A panel
Please join us to mark World Cancer Day 2025 at a film screening of ‘Burkitt’ followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker
In honour of World Cancer Day 2025, the Cancer Interest Group of the Centre for Global Chronic Conditions, the Inequalities in Cancer Outcomes Network and the Centre for History in Public Health at LSHTM are co-hosting a film screening of ‘Burkitt’, a creative documentary film exploring the life and legacy of Irish surgeon Dr Denis Burkitt who discovered Burkitt's lymphoma, as told by a survivor of this cancer.
While working as a surgeon in Uganda in the late 1950s, Burkitt not only described a completely new form of lymphoma in children, but mapped its geographical distribution, suggested a viral cause, and developed a treatment and cure for the disease which would go on to bear his name.
In his debut film, director Éanna Mac Cana combines his personal recordings as an inpatient being treated for Burkitt's lymphoma with Dr Denis Burkitt's own astonishing archive of photographs and films from sub-Saharan Africa. The film weaves together these perspectives, examining the nonlinear impact of trauma, colonialism and the ethics of medical work. Through this fascinating exploration of Denis Burkitt's life and work, Mac Cana reveals his own deep personal connection to the man from county Fermanagh.
We are delighted to welcome the filmmaker Éanna Mac Cana to LSHTM for the Q&A panel following the screening. He will be joined by medical historian Dr Martin Robert and Dr Arief Gunawan. The panel will be chaired by Dr Janet Weston.
This event will be followed by a drinks reception in the Pumphandle Bar where staff from the LSHTM library and archives will have some Burkitt’s lymphoma and other cancer related items on display, showcasing the School’s long history of research on cancer.
Speakers
Éanna Mac Cana is a filmmaker and visual artist from Belfast, Ireland. His moving image work has screened at film festivals and galleries across Europe and North America.
Dr Arief Gunawan is a consultant haematologist at King’s College Hospital and collaborator with the ICON group.
Dr Martin Robert is a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow in the History of Medicine at the Centre for History in Public Health at LSHTM.
Panel Chair
Dr Janet Weston is an Associate Professor and leads the Centre for History in Public Health at LSHTM.
Event notices
- This event is in-person only and will not be recorded.
- This film is not suitable for children and is recommended for ages 18+.
- The film is in English and Irish with English subtitles.
Admission
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