The Big Sick (2017)

This is an important movie that deals with diversity, cultural issues, health and health care.  It is the true story of a Pakistani-American stand-up comedian and his writer girlfriend (pictured below) who develops adult Still's disease. (~ 2 hours)


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Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani), in the middle of becoming a budding stand-up comedian, meets Emily (Zoe Kazan). Meanwhile, a sudden illness sets in forcing Emily to be put into a medically-induced coma. Kumail must navigate being a comedian, dealing with tragic illness, and placating his family's desire to let them fix him up with a spouse, while contemplating and figuring out who he really is and what he truly believes.p with a spouse, while contemplating and figuring out who he really is and what he truly believes.

Goodbye Solo (2009)

From NetFlix: When Senegalese taxi driver Solo (Souleymane Sy Savane) picks up elderly William (Red West) in Winston-Salem, N.C., the older man hires him for another trip in two weeks. But as they continue to talk, Solo realizes that William plans to kill himself at that time. Befriending his depressed passenger, Solo tries to convince him to change his mind, and an unlikely friendship develops between the two men in this moving indie drama. 2009 91 minutes Trailer.

Director Ramin Bahrani is an Iranian-American cinematographer who grew up in North Carolina.

I saw Goodbye Solo on July 5, 2009. Drove to Albany (45 miles away) and do not regret the trip. It is a powerfully moving story that is hauntingly realistic, gritty and beautifully acted. This is not a Hollywood movie trying to be a blockbuster -- it will appeal to a different audience. Bahrani, an Iranian-American, may have been born and educated in the U.S., but his roots are in a different cinema. This film, in my opinion, is a masterpiece.

Gran Torino (2008)

While this film does not deal directly with medical issues, it is worth viewing in that it instructs one about cross-cultural issues. It is as powerful, in our opinion, as "The Spirit Catches You" the book by Ann Fadiman that also deals with Hmong culture.

Moving scene of Eastwood as a patient in a Michigan clinic.

From NetFlix: Crusty, inflexible Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) must confront his Hmong immigrant neighbors – and his own long-held prejudices – when the family's teen son, Thao, tries to steal Walt's beloved 1972 Gran Torino. Walt soon assumes the unlikely role of guardian angel to young Tao and his sister, who are vulnerable to disturbing gang influences in this intimate drama from 78-year-old director Eastwood. 2008, 116 minutes

City of Joy (1992)

From NetFlix: American doctor Max Lowe (Patrick Swayze) travels to Calcutta, India, to search for meaning in his life. Almost upon touching down, he's mugged and beaten. Joan (Pauline Collins), an Irish nun struggling to provide basic medical care for impoverished slum dwellers, nurses the young physician back to health, and together they decide to open a new clinic that will give hope to surrounding community. 1992, 134 minutes

Suggested by Charles Katz

This movies is kind of superficial. While worth viewing, it misses an opportunity to be really meaningful.

The Ballad of Narayama (1983)

Stricken by famine, the residents of a 19th-century Japanese village decide to banish its elderly population to the top of Mt. Narayama, where they will be left to die. One year shy of her exile, the 69-year-old Orin (Sumiko Sakamoto) must settle some old scores. But her top priority is finding a wife for her eldest son (Ken Ogata). Director Shohei Imamura's multilayered lyrical drama won the Palme d'Or at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival. 1984 130 minutes

This is beautifully filmed and sensitively produced. Not light fare, but worth viewing.