Express
The genius of neurologist Oliver Sacks was founded on his huge empathy for his patients. Yet, for years, he struggled to come to terms with himself.
The Irish Times
There are no remarkable innovations in this documentary on a much-missed literary and scientific original. Oliver Sacks, the neurologist who gained wider fame with books such as Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, talks fluently and hilariously some months before his death in 2015.
The Guardian
The late British neurologist and writer gets a positively glowing bio-documentary, chronicling his troubled childhood, his struggles with his homosexuality and drug addiction, and his pioneering research into autism and neurodiversity. That’s a lot to tackle, and the film just skims the surface of its subject, but it’s brightened by Sacks’s own irresistible presence.
The Morning Star
Through exclusive interviews with Sacks’s friends, colleagues and peers (including Jonathan Miller), as well as archive footage, the film is an eye-opening celebration of the life and work of this extraordinary scientist and man.
Evening Standard
This documentary about the famed neurologist and author is one of the loveliest and most thought-provoking films of 2021.
The British Psychological Society
Our editor Jon Sutton watches 'Oliver Sacks: His Own Life', directed by Ric Burns and released on Altitude Films.
The Guardian
Take your pick of extraordinary moments in this excellent documentary about the neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks. In 2015, aged 82, knowing he had months to live, Sacks sat down at home in New York and talked to the camera with great honesty.
The Scotsman
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life offers some fascinating insights into the late neurologist and best-selling author whose pioneering work found more acceptance after being dramatized in the feel-good Robin Williams/Robert De Niro movie Awakenings.
LeftLion
Doctor, writer, biker, body-builder – these are just a few labels that could be used to describe late neurologist Oliver Sacks, subject of the documentary His Own Life. As a man who dedicated his entire career to exploring the minds of other people, Sacks eventually decided that it would only be fitting that he himself be his final case study, and this film captures his final days in all of their introspective and inspiring glory.
The Arts Desk
It’s well worth tracking down one of the September 29 special cinema screenings of Ric Burns' lovingly made documentary portrait of the writer and neurologist Oliver Sacks, or seeking it out online.
The Times UK
Yet one of the indelible lessons of Ric Burns’s remarkable new documentary, shot in the final months of Sacks’s life, was just how tempestuous his inner life had been. He let slip some of his secrets in his autobiography, On the Move, which was published soon after his death, but Burns’s film, full of humour and pathos, provides further insights.
The Different Minds podcast series
Broadcaster John Offord speaks to film director, Ric Burns about his latest film, Oliver Sacks: His Own Life.
Film-News.co.uk
The latest documentary feature from Ric Burns (The Civil War, American Experience) delves into the life and work of the acclaimed neurologist and writer, Oliver Sacks, and is a frank and utterly absorbing life-story, as told by Sacks, in the months leading up to his death in 2015.
The JC
A new documentary tells the story of the life and death of Oliver Sacks, the writer and doctor
500 Days of Film
A self-described “inveterant storyteller”, Sacks has a truly remarkable story of his own. Using archival footage and photographs, Burns takes us on a chronological journey through his life. The film features an impressive number of “talking heads” (family members, colleagues, patients and close friends, including Jonathan Miller, Temple Grandin, Christof Koch, Lawrence Weschler, Isabelle Rapin, Billy Hayes Mark Homonoff and Steve Silberman) to help us put Sacks’s legacy into context.
Attitude
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life is in UK & Irish cinemas for a One Night Only special event on 29 September.
The Up Coming
As the title suggests, Oliver Sacks: His Own Life is a film that explores the life of neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks, from his troubled youth to his twilight years. These biographical observations are framed by the cancer diagnosis received by the scientist at the time the documentary was recorded, which left him with months to live.
The Lancet Psychiatry
PBS has produced a radiant documentary, directed by Ric Burns, that shows how Sacks embodies what Sir William Osler said, over a century ago: “It is the good physician that treats the disease. It is the great physician who treats the patient with the disease.” No wonder Sacks was so beloved
Forbes
This past week, a documentary on Sacks premiered on the PBS “American Masters” series…Sacks did as much as anyone to introduce autism to a general audience in the United States…
IndieWire
The innovative wordsmith's time spent in and outside of the world of neurological studies is captured in this portrait of both his breakthroughs and insecurities.
The Hollywood Reporter
This week, it just so happens that the Burnses are having back-to-back premieres on PBS, with Ken debuting an expansive three-part docuseries on Ernest Hemingway, which he directed with longtime creative partner Lynn Novick, and Ric screening Oliver Sacks: His Own Life about the famed writer and neurologist.
Scientific American
Burns’s documentary, made shortly before Sacks’s death from cancer in 2015, traces the blossoming of a brilliant but troubled outsider as he elevated patient case histories to a literary art form by ceaselessly posing the same question: What is it like to be you?
THE NEW YORK TIMES (Critics’ Pick)
A new documentary explores the fascinating and sometimes troubled life of the famed neurologist.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
“Oliver Sacks: His Own Life,” Ric Burns’ majestic documentary, covers all eight decades of the unconventional physician’s life but is rooted in the final months before his death of cancer in 2015 at the age of 82.
Science Friday
Ric Burns, director of the film Oliver Sacks: His Own Life, joins Ira to talk about the life and legacy of Oliver Sacks.
Fresh Air: NPR
A new documentary, Oliver Sacks: His Own Life, chronicles the late neurologist's efforts to understand perception, memory, and consciousness.
Science
“I’m an inveterate storyteller,” confesses the celebrated neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks at the start of Oliver Sacks: His Own Life.
Advocate
All this and more are revealed in a new documentary film from director Ric Burns, Oliver Sacks: His Own Life, opening in virtual theaters today.
Express
The genius of neurologist Oliver Sacks was founded on his huge empathy for his patients. Yet, for years, he struggled to come to terms with himself.
The Irish Times
There are no remarkable innovations in this documentary on a much-missed literary and scientific original. Oliver Sacks, the neurologist who gained wider fame with books such as Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, talks fluently and hilariously some months before his death in 2015.
The Guardian
The late British neurologist and writer gets a positively glowing bio-documentary, chronicling his troubled childhood, his struggles with his homosexuality and drug addiction, and his pioneering research into autism and neurodiversity. That’s a lot to tackle, and the film just skims the surface of its subject, but it’s brightened by Sacks’s own irresistible presence.
The Morning Star
Through exclusive interviews with Sacks’s friends, colleagues and peers (including Jonathan Miller), as well as archive footage, the film is an eye-opening celebration of the life and work of this extraordinary scientist and man.
Evening Standard
This documentary about the famed neurologist and author is one of the loveliest and most thought-provoking films of 2021.
The British Psychological Society
Our editor Jon Sutton watches 'Oliver Sacks: His Own Life', directed by Ric Burns and released on Altitude Films.
The Guardian
Take your pick of extraordinary moments in this excellent documentary about the neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks. In 2015, aged 82, knowing he had months to live, Sacks sat down at home in New York and talked to the camera with great honesty.
The Scotsman
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life offers some fascinating insights into the late neurologist and best-selling author whose pioneering work found more acceptance after being dramatized in the feel-good Robin Williams/Robert De Niro movie Awakenings.
LeftLion
Doctor, writer, biker, body-builder – these are just a few labels that could be used to describe late neurologist Oliver Sacks, subject of the documentary His Own Life. As a man who dedicated his entire career to exploring the minds of other people, Sacks eventually decided that it would only be fitting that he himself be his final case study, and this film captures his final days in all of their introspective and inspiring glory.
The Arts Desk
It’s well worth tracking down one of the September 29 special cinema screenings of Ric Burns' lovingly made documentary portrait of the writer and neurologist Oliver Sacks, or seeking it out online.
The Times UK
Yet one of the indelible lessons of Ric Burns’s remarkable new documentary, shot in the final months of Sacks’s life, was just how tempestuous his inner life had been. He let slip some of his secrets in his autobiography, On the Move, which was published soon after his death, but Burns’s film, full of humour and pathos, provides further insights.
The Different Minds podcast series
Broadcaster John Offord speaks to film director, Ric Burns about his latest film, Oliver Sacks: His Own Life.
Film-News.co.uk
The latest documentary feature from Ric Burns (The Civil War, American Experience) delves into the life and work of the acclaimed neurologist and writer, Oliver Sacks, and is a frank and utterly absorbing life-story, as told by Sacks, in the months leading up to his death in 2015.
The JC
A new documentary tells the story of the life and death of Oliver Sacks, the writer and doctor
500 Days of Film
A self-described “inveterant storyteller”, Sacks has a truly remarkable story of his own. Using archival footage and photographs, Burns takes us on a chronological journey through his life. The film features an impressive number of “talking heads” (family members, colleagues, patients and close friends, including Jonathan Miller, Temple Grandin, Christof Koch, Lawrence Weschler, Isabelle Rapin, Billy Hayes Mark Homonoff and Steve Silberman) to help us put Sacks’s legacy into context.
Attitude
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life is in UK & Irish cinemas for a One Night Only special event on 29 September.
The Up Coming
As the title suggests, Oliver Sacks: His Own Life is a film that explores the life of neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks, from his troubled youth to his twilight years. These biographical observations are framed by the cancer diagnosis received by the scientist at the time the documentary was recorded, which left him with months to live.
Geek Vibes Nation
In Oliver Sacks: His Own Life, director Ric Burns uses a blend of archival and exclusive footage to illustrate the journey of a man who, until the end, explored and valued the lives of his patients beyond their symptoms.
Jewish News
Directed by celebrated documentary filmmaker Ric Burns, the film features revealing and personal interviews with Sacks conducted in the months prior to his death in 2015 and those closest to him…
The Lancet Psychiatry
PBS has produced a radiant documentary, directed by Ric Burns, that shows how Sacks embodies what Sir William Osler said, over a century ago: “It is the good physician that treats the disease. It is the great physician who treats the patient with the disease.” No wonder Sacks was so beloved
Forbes
This past week, a documentary on Sacks premiered on the PBS “American Masters” series…Sacks did as much as anyone to introduce autism to a general audience in the United States…
Jewish Insider
A new documentary takes a painstakingly intimate look at the famously private British writer and neurologist, who died in 2015
NBC News
In the PBS presentation, documentary filmmaker Ric Burns chronicles Sacks’ storied career as well as his long struggle with his sexuality
IndieWire
The innovative wordsmith's time spent in and outside of the world of neurological studies is captured in this portrait of both his breakthroughs and insecurities.
The New York Review of Books
The physician and author, subject of a new PBS documentary airing this week, was a contributor to The New York Review for over three decades.
The Hollywood Reporter
This week, it just so happens that the Burnses are having back-to-back premieres on PBS, with Ken debuting an expansive three-part docuseries on Ernest Hemingway, which he directed with longtime creative partner Lynn Novick, and Ric screening Oliver Sacks: His Own Life about the famed writer and neurologist.
Associated Press
Oliver Sacks: His Own life premiering on PBS on Friday, April 9
Chemical and Engineering News
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life packs an emotional punch
Press contacts:
DKC
Joe DePlasco
FRANK PUBLICITY
Stephanie Davidson
201-704-1382
stephanie@frankpublicity.com
DAVID MAGDAEL
Office 213-624-7827
Cell 213-399-1434
dmagdael@tcdm-associates.com
About the film:
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life explores the life and work of the legendary neurologist and storyteller, as he shares intimate details of his battles with drug addiction, homophobia, and a medical establishment that accepted his work only decades after the fact. Sacks, known for his literary works Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, was a fearless explorer of unknown cognitive worlds who helped redefine our understanding of the brain and mind, the diversity of human experience, and our shared humanity.
The film features exclusive interviews with Sacks conducted just weeks after he received a terminal diagnosis, and months prior to his death in August 2015, and nearly two dozen deeply revealing and personal interviews with family members, colleagues, patients, and close friends, including Jonathan Miller, Robert Silvers, Temple Grandin, Christof Koch, Robert Krulwich, Lawrence Weschler, Roberto Calasso, Paul Theroux, Bill Hayes, Kate Edgar, and Atul Gawande, among others. The film also draws on unique access to the extensive archives of the Oliver Sacks Foundation.