By Hailey Rollheiser (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: February 6, 2013
Michael Dayan, a film professor at UFV, has released a documentary that is now receiving international attention. It was screened at the Santa Barbara Film Festival in the Social Justice category, and also aired on CBC. High Plains Doctor: Healing on the Tibetan Plateau is based on Canadian Dr. Isaac Sobel’s 10th and last year running a medical clinic in Yushu, Tibet. The film was shot in Nunavut and in a remote village in Yushu, which has since been destroyed by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake, making Dayan’s footage possibly the only documentation of the village in existence. The documentary explores what happens to indigenous people and their health care in the face of globalization. On March 8, Dayan will be giving a lecture here at UFV and screening the documentary.
Tell me a little bit about your film and what it’s all about.
My film is about a medical mission into eastern Tibet. The film can be seen from a number of perspectives; it’s a complex story. On one level it’s about how a man goes to help people far away and ends up helping himself, but in other ways it’s about cultural survival in the midst of globalization and modernization – there’s this force of change that is affecting the people in this village that he’s going to.
What were your favourite and least favourite parts of the whole process?
The easiest part to answer is the least favourite part, because of the medical mission … just seeing all of these people in so much pain and not being able to help them – partly because I’m not a physician, and partly because even the physicians were running out of resources and coming up against things they had never seen before.
And choosing my favourite things: being in Tibet was just awesome and being in northern Canada was awesome, too. But being in Tibet – I went for a whole month without using telephone and the internet and that was awesome just to get back to the basics. I think some of the best things were just being up at dawn at the top of the monastery and the peace and tranquility – you don’t get that over here.
How long did you shoot for?
I shot for a month and the film is based on what I shot over that month. I just used one camera and I used one mic. I was very careful about limiting myself in terms of what to bring into the country because it’s not encouraged to shoot in Tibet. I don’t think the Chinese government is that fond of the idea.
Where did you get your idea for the film?
The medical clinic [in Yushu] has been running for 10 years, and I went on the last one of its medical missions. The person who led the clinic was, at the time, the Chief Medical Officer of Nunavut. Before that he was the director of the division of aboriginal health at the UBC medical school. While he was the head of aboriginal health at UBC, one of the medical students there, a good friend of mine, knew I was looking for a new film project and he advised me to look into this.
What do you think is important for your audience to know about your documentary – what is the intended message?
Well, there are many messages. I operate with an A story and B story, and on the A story I’d say it’s about healing happens for oneself when actively engaged in helping others. It’s not just about healing Tibetans; it’s about how Dr. Sobel heals himself.
On the other level, it’s about what it means to be healthy in terms of healthy society or healthy culture. Because [Sobel] is a public health officer and not a physician looking at treating the individual, he’s looking at all the aspects of the public health mix. That includes the environment, culture, economic opportunity – public health entails many aspects of how people live, so one of the takeaways of the film is that for people to be healthy they need healthy public policy.
Is this your first film that will be shown at a festival?
No, my previous film has screened there as well. My previous film is called Glimpses of Heaven and it also screened at Santa Barbara, where it had its U.S. premiere. That film had its Canadian premiere at the Whistler Film Festival.
So I know that you teach here; do you find inspiration from your students?
Absolutely, I always learn from my students. The way I approach teaching is an exchange of knowledge. I love the discussions we have in class, I love reading my students’ papers, I always learn and that’s how I teach; I teach by wanting to learn. I’ve studied the materials and I know certain things, but I always find that there’s personal insight and ways of seeing things that the students bring.
What are you currently working on?
Now I’m working on a film about the descendants of Nazis who have converted to Judaism. It’s been interesting. I’m deep in work on that now.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity
