Alumnus Marcus Brooker, who completed his BA (Hons) in Film this summer, has contributed to a news item about his father’s cancer diagnosis for the BBC programme Inside Out, broadcast on BBC1 last night, Monday 7 October 2019.
The item uses footage from a documentary that Marcus is currently producing. Marcus conceived of making the documentary while at university, when he spoke to his father about his cancer diagnosis. After the story was featured in a local paper, the BBC contacted Marcus to ask him to make a segment for Inside Out. Marcus has also received interest from Channel 4 regarding a new programme about terminal illness.
Marcus says: ‘I understand that having cancer is a tough time, and my dad has suffered with cancer since I was around 11/12 so I am aware of what it is like to live with someone who has cancer. The documentary I have set out to make focuses on my father as his terminal diagnosis gets worse, up to the point of his death. I wanted to show people how an ordinary person like my dad can live with cancer and still have a life. I told my brother about the documentary and we are now both making the documentary. Although the overall story of the documentary will follow my father, we both want to bring other people in to tell their stories and how they live with cancer, be that of a terminal diagnosis or people who have battled cancer and won. My father has had cancer three times and has some really interesting stories to tell’.
Although the segment on Inside Out will focus on Marcus’ father and his story, Marcus aims to feature other people and their stories in his full-length documentary. Marcus says: ‘We are looking for ordinary people with unique stories to tell, and the long term plan is to help people who may be scared or unsure about how to live with a terminal diagnosis, and overall just relate to my father’s story’.
If you are interested in getting involved with the project, please get in touch with Marcus here: MarcusBrooker@hotmail.com
The segment on Inside Out can be found on BBC iPlayer, available at 10 minutes and 25 seconds here.