Silverdocs 2008: Screen for Your Health

THE "DOCS" IN the AFI's Silverdocs (8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring; Silverdocs.com) stands for "documentary," but given the amount of material in this year's film festival that touches on health topics, it might as well be "doctors." Here's a peek at what's playing this week.

Dust (Wednesday at 6:15 p.m.) comes from Germany, where the tiny particles are apparently on the minds of many — including a woman who obsessively attempts to banish every bit from her home and researchers studying the medical problems that can arise from inhaling the stuff.

The English Surgeon (Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 7:15 p.m.) is Henry Marsh, a doctor with a passion for bringing neurosurgery to Ukraine, where training and equipment are scarce. Following along on a trip from London to Kiev, viewers can appreciate that the battle is an uphill one as he strives to save patients who would otherwise have no hope.

In the Family (Wednesday at 2:15 p.m, Saturday at 2:15 p.m.) accompanies filmmaker Joanna Rudnick as she examines a very personal medical issue: A genetic test showed that she has a high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. Should she undergo surgery even though she hasn't had children? What does this mean for her relationships? There's a post-film discussion after the Wednesday screening.

Life. Support. Music (Saturday at 4:45 p.m.) looks at the struggles of 34-year-old musician Jason Crigler and his family after he suffers a massive cerebral hemorrhage. From the hospital to home, they work together to help him attempt to become the Jason they once knew.

My Mother's Garden (Thursday at 2 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m.) examines the hoarding disorder of Eugenia Lester, the director's mom. Her lifelong habits of Dumpster-diving, garage-sale hunting and blowing her savings on dollar-store spending sprees finally catch up with her when the health department threatens to take her home — by then so full that she could only enter through a window.

Pindorama: The True Story of the Seven Dwarves (Friday at 10:45 p.m.) doesn't delve too deeply into the physiology of dwarfism, but it provides a peek into the lives of a family running a circus in Brazil that capitalizes on their diminutive stature.

Under Our Skin (Tuesday at 1:15 p.m., June 23 at 8 p.m.) refuses to buy the medical establishment's claim that chronic Lyme disease is a product of overactive imaginations. Just try telling that to people who have spent years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to recover. There's a post-film discussion after the Monday screening.

Can't commit to a full-length film? Some shorts have a medical bent, too. After seeing a guy named Bob make a model replica of the knee after he injures his own in "Bob's Knee" (four minutes, screens with Shorts Program 5), you'll have a new admiration for the miracle of engineering that is the human body. "Farewell Packets of Ten" (three minutes, screens with Shorts Program 3) features two women bantering about smoker's cough and the pleasures of nicotine. In "Smile Pinki" (40 minutes, screens with Shorts Program 6), an Indian girl with a cleft lip is ostracized until a social worker starts gathering patients for a hospital with free surgeries.

Photos courtesy AFI Silver