Nadia and Gaia are two women who suddenly find themselves dealing with an unwanted travel companion. One is ovarian cancer, the other is endometrial cancer. Nadia and Gaia are also the protagonists of the web series ‘Quella macchia nera’ signed by the director Enzo Dino, the second appointment with the social cinema of Gsk. In fact, on the occasion of Women’s Day, the company proposes a film project on gynecological cancers: 5 episodes of 4 minutes, broadcast every week on the portals ‘Materiamoci Informate’ (https://www.manteriamociinformate.it/) and ‘ Womencare’ (https://www.womencare.it/) starting from 8 March. A documentary film is also in the works with the testimonies of clinicians, patients and caregivers.
The series – reports a note – tells the story of the two patients and how they deal with their paths of illness. Friendship, affections, the normality of everyday life help not to lose touch with oneself. Their friendship, which turns into an alliance, strength – because it is among the like that we understand each other deeply and can help each other – begins in the chemotherapy room. And through this bond they tell their journey, the anxieties, pains and hopes of the thousands of people engaged in their personal chess game with cancer. After the important response received last year with ‘Tic Toc, la gentile del tempo’, a work that traces the different experiences of the disease of three people with multiple myeloma, Gsk, in collaboration with Elena Rotari’s DRMovie, takes up the cinematographic grammar to speak of cancer.
“Our goal – says Maria Sofia Rosati, medical director of Oncohematology of GSK – is to be close to all people, women and men, who encounter an oncological pathology in their lives. Being close means above all giving therapeutic answers that allow them to overcome or live with with the disease, but it is equally important to provide patients with the tools to understand what they are going through and that they are not alone on this journey, above all that they can do it. ‘That black spot’ is an example. For years now, cancer has not plus a sentence without appeal. The progress of medical science allows us to look at the during and after the disease, which means quality of life. In this web series, attention is raised on ovarian and endometrial tumors, gynecological neoplasms that touch the intimate sphere of women, with an important psychological impact.We speak, for example, of sexuality, an aspect that should not be set aside or cancelled, and which always more women also research in dialogue with their oncologist. The message we want to convey is always that of hope. Ovarian and endometrial tumors are not a walk in the park, but Nadia and Gaia tell us that after the effort of the climb, the path becomes less steep and flat”.
“This time too – explains Elena Rotari, DRMovie – we have tried to package a story of hope for the public, exalting above all values and themes such as friendship, awareness, femininity, which should not be forgotten even in illness, prevention. And ‘ a story of women for women”.
“In narrative terms – underlines the director Enzo Dino – I wanted to keep the attention on hope, enhanced by the friendship, almost a sisterhood, of the two protagonists. The title ‘Quella macchia nera’ is inspired by the other protagonist, the guest of the stone of this story: cancer. In the previous web series, dedicated to multiple myeloma, the image of a clock was constant to mark the suspended time of the patients. In this new project, I liked the idea of associating the oncological disease with painting The painting, almost dreamlike, which underlines the multiple clinical stages: with dark colors the progress of the disease, while with light and light colors the results obtained with the treatments, as if each brushstroke of light represented the victory over cancer cells. And the painting has a positive effect on the moods of the two protagonists, who we see sharing their works between one chemotherapy session and another”.
“The experience of retracing the reality that I am living on the set of this web series was accompanied by many emotions – highlights the actress Caterina Laboragine – Having played the character of Gaia gave me even more strength to continue the journey with my pathology. Accepting a disease also means being filled with a lot of trust and hope to be cured and try to achieve all the objectives little by little. All this by following the indications of the doctors who accompany you with professionalism and humanity and encourage you, always envisaging a happy ending. ‘A pink dragonfly’, the poem Gaia recites in one of the final scenes, flying towards life”.