Life According to Sam

Last updated
Life According to Sam
Life According to Sam.jpg
Directed by Sean Fine
Andrea Nix Fine
Produced by Sean Fine
Andrea Nix Fine
Miriam Weintraub
Starring Sam Berns
Music by Keegan DeWitt
Production
companies
Distributed by HBO
Release date
  • October 21, 2013 (2013-10-21)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States

Life According to Sam is an HBO original documentary film directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine. Premiering in January 2013 at the Sundance Film Festival, [1] the documentary discloses the impact that progeria had on the lives of Sam Berns and his parents, Dr. Leslie Gordon and Dr. Scott Berns. It was broadcast on HBO in October 2013, and since then it has won a 2013 Peabody Award [2] and an Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. [3] It was also one of the 15 titles considered for nomination in the Documentary Feature category for the 86th Oscars. [4]

Contents

Told from the personal point of view of Sam, his parents, and other families suffering from the effects of progeria, the documentary raises awareness on this currently incurable disease. It informs and educates the audience on what progeria is, what it means for patients, and calls attention to the need for research on treatment.

Synopsis

The documentary concerns the young teen, Sampson Gordon Berns, one of the few hundreds of patients around the world diagnosed with progeria. As stated in the film, progeria is an extremely rare and fatal genetic disease also referred to as premature aging syndrome. When Sam was diagnosed, nothing was known about the disease genetically, and there was no treatment nor cure. The prognosis was that he was likely to die around the age of 13, as was the average for progeria patients. Sam's mom, Dr. Leslie Gordon, was in her first year of medical residency when he was diagnosed at around the age of two and had to change her course of plan accordingly.

The film features both of his parents discussing how their lives changed after the diagnosis. After six months of the diagnosis, Dr. Leslie Gordon, Dr. Scott Berns, and Sam's aunt, Audrey Gordon, founded the Progeria Research Foundation. They were able to raise $1.25 million for research, which led to the discovery of the gene responsible for the disease. The film includes the journey that Dr. Leslie Gordon underwent in trying to find a successful treatment for the disease. Experimenting with a drug being used for similar protein abnormalities, Lonafarnib, Leslie meets other children with progeria to conduct clinical trials that would last two years and a half. The children and their parents are interviewed, and they discuss their experiences with progeria and their thoughts on Leslie's trial.

Since the number of progeria patients is so limited and treatment was a matter of ethics, Leslie made a critical decision that would lead to issues concerning earning a publication of the study from a peer-reviewed journal. Meanwhile, Sam manages to participate in sports and hobbies that would prove difficult for progeria patients, and Scott makes time for therapeutic activities for Sam.

Cast

Production

When the married directors, Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine, first met Sam, Sam told them, "I think we are all going to be very good friends here. There are other films that have been out there on progeria, and I don't want this film to be like those films. I don't ever want people to feel sorry for me. That is the one thing I am going to ask you guys." When the directors started filming, Dr. Leslie Gordon had already begun her first set of clinical trials using Lonafarnib on 26 progeria patients. According to Los Angeles Times, Sean Fine claimed that they thought the trials would be finished in a year, but "(they) didn't realize how hard it is to get a scientific paper published. That made the film take three years." The filmmakers also claim getting close to Sam during that time and admiring him for the fun kid that he was. It was also stated that Sam watched the finished film by himself before anyone else, including his parents, did. In an e-mail interview, Sam announced, "I wanted to be able to process what was on screen and to be able to watch it and react without having to worry about other people's reactions at the same time watching it." [5]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 100% of 8 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10. [6] Dorothy Rabinowitz, of The Wall Street Journal, comments, "... nothing in this documentary equals the portrait of the unforgettable son they produced." [7] Duane Byrge from The Hollywood Reporter , who attended the premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, reported that the audience stayed after the film for the Q&A- "a sure sign that they loved the movie." Moved by the inspirational approach that Sam and his family took upon his diagnosis, the bottom line quote for The Hollywood Reporter was posted as, "Wise and uplifting film about one young boy's graceful resilience against a rare terminal disease." [8] Hank Stuever from The Washington Post claims: "The film is as much – or maybe more – about Sam's resiliently proactive mother, Leslie Gordon, as it is about Sam." [9]

Impact

Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, saw the film at the premiere in New York City and met Sam at a team practice. He felt inspired and impassioned, and he donated a $500,000 matching gift support and fund the expansion of the Progeria clinical trials. It was reported that he commented, "This is a must-see film. It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. And, most importantly, I think it will motivate people to want to do more to help." [10]

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Progeria</span> Genetic disorder that causes early aging

Progeria is a specific type of progeroid syndrome, also known as Hutchinson–Gilford syndrome or Hutchinson–Gilford progeroid syndrome (HGPS). A single gene mutation is responsible for causing progeria. The affected gene, known as lamin A (LMNA), makes a protein necessary for holding the cell nucleus together. When this gene mutates, an abnormal form of lamin A protein called progerin is produced. Progeroid syndromes are a group of diseases that cause individuals to age faster than usual, leading to them appearing older than they actually are. People born with progeria typically live until their mid- to late-teens or early twenties. Severe cardiovascular complications usually develop by puberty, later on resulting in death.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lonafarnib</span> Medication investigated as a treatment for progeria

Lonafarnib, sold under the brand name Zokinvy, is a medication used to reduce the risk of death due to Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome and for the treatment of certain processing-deficient progeroid laminopathies in people one year of age and older. It is under trial for its use as combination treatment for Hepatitis D Virus.

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Sean Fine is an American cinematographer, producer and film director whose film Inocente won the 2013 Academy Award for Best Documentary. He directs his films with his wife, Andrea Nix Fine. The Fines' first feature-length film War/Dance about child soldiers was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2007. In 2013 their film, Life According to Sam won both a Peabody Award and an Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary filmmaking. The Fines launched a boutique film studio Change Content to develop documentaries that affect way audiences feel about critical issues. Change Content's first film LFG premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was instrumental in the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team achieving equal pay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hayley Okines</span> British activist with progeria (1997–2015)

Hayley Leanne Okines was an English author and activist who was a sufferer of the extremely rare aging disease progeria. She was known for spreading awareness of the condition. Although the life expectancy for those with the condition is 13 years, Okines was part of a drug trial that had seen her surpass doctors' predictions of her projected lifespan. She died on 2 April 2015 at the age of 17, having lived four years beyond doctors' initial predictions.

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The Progeria Research Foundation (PRF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing treatments and, ultimately, a cure for progeria, a congenital disorder. The Foundation was established in 1999 by the family and friends of Sam Berns, a child with progeria, including Dr. Leslie Gordon and Dr. Scott Berns, his parents, and Audrey Gordon, his aunt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Berns</span> American activist (1996–2014)

Sampson GordonBerns was an American activist with progeria, an extremely rare and fatal disease that causes the body to age rapidly. Berns helped raise awareness about the disease, and he was the subject of the HBO documentary Life According to Sam, which was first screened in January 2013.

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Sammy Basso was an Italian biologist, patient of progeria and one of the oldest known survivors of the disease. Basso also took part in clinical trials that he carried out research for.

References

  1. ↑ "Life According To Sam | The Progeria Research Foundation". www.progeriaresearch.org. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  2. ↑ 73rd Annual Peabody Awards, May 2014.
  3. ↑ "The 2014 Creative Arts Emmy® Awards Winners" (PDF). emmys.com. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  4. ↑ "15 Documentary Features Advance in 2013 Oscar® Race". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2014-08-21. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  5. ↑ "'Life According to Sam' follows a teen with progeria". Los Angeles Times. 2013-10-17. ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  6. ↑ "Life According to Sam". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved October 10, 2021. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  7. ↑ Rabinowitz, Dorothy (17 October 2013). "Mothers and Daughters on the Wagon". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on 2022-03-25.
  8. ↑ Byrge, Duane (25 January 2013). "Life According to Sam: Sundance Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  9. ↑ Stuever, Hank (October 20, 2013). "HBO's 'Life According to Sam': When a mom's research might be the key to her son's survival". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Life According To Sam | The Progeria Research Foundation". www.progeriaresearch.org. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  11. ↑ "Awards & Reviews | The Progeria Research Foundation". www.progeriaresearch.org. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  12. ↑ "Life According to Sam". Research!America. 2013-10-14. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
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