Today is the 35th birthday of Kelly Pozzoli, the young woman with cervical cancer at the center of the film Someone You Love: The HPV Epidemic, which I reviewed here yesterday. The film, which I highly recommend, can be streamed for $1 during the month of July in honor of Kelly’s birthday. It has won the Power of Film Award from the Beloit International Film Festival and the Best of Fest Award from the North Hollywood Cinefest, and it was nominated for Best Documentary at the Carmel International Film Festival.
Here, documentary filmmaker Frederic Lumiere answered questions about the film, including how it came to be and how he found and chose the women featured. Some of his answers provide details of events that occur late in the documentary, so I’ve noted after the question whether his answer contains such a spoiler.
What led you to do this film on this subject matter?
I’ve never made a medical documentary before and never planned on making one. But I am interested in subject matters that are somewhat of a revelation for the audience and films that could lead to change. My best friend, Mark Hefti, with whom I worked with on many films, told me about HPV (human papillomavirus) and how it causes six cancers, including cervical cancer. I was outraged that I lived through my 20s and 30s and I knew absolutely nothing about it. How could I have not known about the most common sexually transmitted infection in America that causes cancer and is preventable!? That’s when we decided to make a film about it.
Do you have any personal experience with HPV and/or cervical cancer, such as a link to women in your family?
Not that I know – and I emphasize “that I know” because it’s been such a taboo subject. Kelly’s mom had HPV and cervical cancer in the 70s, and her own daughter knew nothing about it. The stigma around this virus is its worst enemy. If more women would talk about their diagnosis with their friends and family, people might be more pro-active about getting vaccinated and screened.
It also happens to be the most ridiculous stigma there is. The CDC says on their website: "HPV is so common that nearly all sexually active men and women get the virus at some point in their lives.” Most people’s immune system will rid their body of the virus, but many don’t. So the stigma isn’t about people with HPV but people who have a reaction from HPV. It’s a stigma against people who have a reaction to what everyone has. This stigma is so widespread that many will even hesitate to support HPV awareness campaigns in social media. It’s time to end this stigma and educate people.
How did you find the women you featured and decide to include them in the film?
We wanted to represent many aspects to this story: women at different stages of their cervical cancer journeys and women from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Kristen Forbes had already passed away when we started the film, so we interviewed her parents. Tamika Felder and Christine Baze were easy to find because they are advocates and very active in trying to educate people about HPV and cervical cancer. Kelly Pozzoli was introduced to us by Christine Baze. Kelly had just been diagnosed with cervical cancer and found Christine online. Christine called us right away because she knew we were looking to follow someone’s journey in real time. Kelly sent me an audition tape. She was incredible. Within minutes of speaking with her on the phone, I booked a ticket to come film her in St. Louis.
We also filmed three other women who aren’t in the film. One had a rare small cell cervical cancer which may not be caused by HPV, so we decided to keep that story out since this film is about HPV and the preventable cancers it causes. Another very courageous woman, Bonnie Diraimondo, had HPV-caused anal cancer. She passed away during the production of the film. It was incredibly sad. We kept Bonnie’s story out of the film because we wanted to focus on cervical cancer, but we hope to put together a short piece about Bonnie soon.
Finally, we also wanted to tell the story of a woman who was dying of cervical cancer and this is how we met Michele Baldwin. Michele’s story was incredible. After being told that she had only a few months left to live, she went to India and paddle boarded 700 miles down the Ganges River to bring awareness about cervical cancer, especially in India where at least 75,000 women die from the disease every year. We decided to give Michele her own film, which we are still working on. It’s called Lady Ganga.
How was the film funded?
It was funded by my production company and other donors who prefer to remain anonymous. We did not receive any funding from vaccine companies or employees of vaccine companies. We have nothing against them – much to the contrary – but we wanted to make sure that people wouldn’t discount the film before they saw it, thinking it was propaganda for the vaccine companies.
Some people might criticize that you didn't include anything about potential risks of the HPV vaccine. How would you respond to that?
As a documentarian, I didn’t have an opinion either way when I started this film. But I discovered there is so much sensationalism when it comes to the HPV vaccine. Anything negative about vaccines, especially the HPV vaccine, travels so much faster than its benefits. After careful investigation, I discovered that most allegations of serious side effects from the HPV vaccine were unfounded.
There are many smart and good people trying to save lives out there, and the anti-vaccine movement is making their work feel like an uphill battle. It’s hard enough to discover a vaccine to prevent six cancers. It’s a miracle of science really! But it must be discouraging for these scientists to have to defend the safety of their discovery against unproven allegations.
The main issue is that correlation does not imply causation, and when you inoculate hundreds of thousands of people, some will get ill and even die from other causes around the same time. Typically, I would give a voice to the opposition in my films, but in this case, I didn’t, mainly because I couldn’t find anyone who could make a scientifically sound case against the HPV vaccine. It is sad to think about how many people around the world are dying from diseases that could have been prevented by vaccines.
How and why did you make the decision to make Kelly the lynchpin for the film’s narrative? [Answer contains spoilers]
Her story develops in real time whereas the others are recounted. Kelly was incredibly brave – one of the bravest people I’ve ever met – and I’ve met a few, since I make war documentaries. She was also incredibly generous with her life because she thought her story could help others. In the film she says, "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.” The only thing that could’ve saved Kelly’s life is the vaccine. But it was so new when she was the right age to get it, so she didn’t. This is another reason why I don’t talk about the anti-vaccine nonsense. It’s dangerous. I miss my friend Kelly.
What are the biggest takeaways you want people to get from this film?
1. Vaccinate your daughters with the HPV vaccine.
2. Vaccinate your sons with the HPV vaccine.
3. Don’t procrastinate on your Pap smears and HPV tests.
Does the film have a distributor and/or are you seeking one, or do you plan to continue offering it only through streaming?
We are self distributing at the moment. We have a pretty sophisticated public screening system where people can host or sponsor public screenings around the country. We are also offering the film as a digital download for just $1 during the month of July to honor Kelly. After July, people will still be able to buy digital copies in bulk for just $1 (a 90% discount) and offer them as gift for their patients, friends, co-workers, etc.
We are getting ready to speak to television networks and distributors. The film has been incredibly well received so far. The testimonials keep on streaming in and they are incredible. The film works, it will save lives.
Is there anything you want to share?
Yes, one more thing: One of the reasons for parents who don’t want their daughters to get the HPV vaccine is that there is a feeling among them that it “promotes sexual activity.” I can understand where this feeling comes from, having two daughters of my own who are 7 and 9 years old. I would challenge these parents to think of the following:
First, the HPV vaccine doesn’t protect against all sexually transmitted infections. There is still plenty to worry about besides HPV, including HIV/AIDS, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes and trichomoniasis, to name a few. So the HPV vaccine isn’t a blank check to have unprotected sex.
Second, HPV is transmitted from skin to skin, so it can be transmitted without having intercourse, such as having oral sex. New evidence suggests that you may be able to contract HPV from kissing.
Third, the HPV vaccine is recommended for preteen boys and girls at age 11 or 12 so they are protected before ever being exposed to the virus. HPV vaccine also produces the most infection-fighting cells, or antibodies, during the preteen years.
Fourth, holding back on a vaccine that could protect your child against six cancers isn’t the best approach to teach abstinence. Cervical cancer is a horrible thing to go through for all involved, including the family.
The HPV vaccine is a vaccine that protects against cancer. Period.
HPV causes 6 cancers: cervical, anal, oral (oropharyngeal), vaginal, vulvar, penile. Nobody wants cancer, and these cause especially horrible deaths. They are all preventable. We could eradicate all HPV-caused cancers with the vaccine within our generation.
Read my review of this documentary here.
