Screening of 'Residual Splendour'

Join RCIScience for a special screening of SUPRE Content’s new documentary Residual Splendour - a short film that shares a journey of anxiety and hope when living with metastatic breast cancer. A Q&A with the filmmakers, doctors and researchers follows.

About Residual Splendour - Director Statement

Unlike early stages of breast cancer, metastatic (stage 4) breast cancer cannot currently be cured by surgery. Modern medicine has advanced at a remarkable pace, allowing individuals like Sarah to live longer, better lives. Yet the anxiety of always having breast cancer in your body, with the constant scans and monitoring to determine if the cancer remains stable, is a consuming and pervasive psychological destabilizer. This film bravely celebrates Sarah in her journey with advanced breast cancer, balancing the physical needs of medical treatment and her psychological need for hope, even if that means keeping herself sheltered from important details.

Watch the Trailer

About SUPRE

SUPRE make films about health. SUPRE films are licensed for educational purposes for both the academic and healthcare pathway, bringing evidence to a treatment pathway and empathy to a patient journey.

About the Speakers

Moderator: Calvin Hudson Hwang is an award-winning Taiwanese-Canadian filmmaker from Edmonton, Alberta. Following a career in advertising that took him around the world, Calvin transitioned to behind-the-camera after moving to Los Angeles to attend film school. His directorial works have screened at numerous international festivals.

Dr. Karen Gelmon is a Professor of Medicine at the UBC and a Medical Oncologist at the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA), combining clinical and translational research. She is currently Chair of the UBC/BC Cancer Research Ethics Board and was elected as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. She is on the Medical Advisory Board of the Canadian Breast Cancer Network (CBCN) and is active with RETHINK breast cancer. She is an active teacher interested in education of health care professionals and the public, having over 300 publications. She is the recipient of a number of awards including the YWCA Woman of Distinction award and Doctors of BC Terry Fox award.

Dr. Nancy Nixon completed her internal medicine and medical oncology specialization training in Calgary, finishing in 2016. In 2017, Dr. Nixon completed a clinical and research fellowship specializing in breast cancer. She is currently a full-time medical oncologist at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre and Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary.

Sarah Sellars, originally from a small town in Ontario, now lives in Calgary, Alberta. She was working at a large accounting firm when she received her first Cancer diagnosis in 2018. She briefly went back to work before her metastatic diagnosis at the end of 2019. She’s been off work on disability since and is the protagonist in Residual Splendour.