Wednesday Hits Matinees- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Drop in on Wednesdays to watch popular new releases! Check the online calendar or the monthly schedule at the Adult Services Desk to see what’s playing.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: Boasting an exceptional cast and production team, and based on Rebecca Skloot’s critically acclaimed 2010 nonfiction best-seller of the same name, this HBO Films drama tells the true story of Henrietta Lacks, an AfricanAmerican woman whose cells were used to create the first immortal human cell line, known as HeLa. Told primarily through the eyes of Lack’s daughter Deborah (Oprah Winfrey) and journalist Rebecca Skloot (Rose Byrne), the film chronicles Deborah’s search to learn about the mother she never knew, and to understand how the unauthorized harvesting of Lacks’ cancerous cells in 1951 led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs, from cancer to polio to radiation to AIDS, changing countless lives and the face of medicine forever. With a supporting cast that includes Renée Elise Goldsberry, Reg E. Cathey, Courtney B. Vance, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Leslie Uggams, Reed Birney, Rocky Carroll and John Douglas Thompson, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a story of medical arrogance and triumph, race, poverty, and deep friendship between the unlikeliest of people.

Film Description provided by swank.com