Oscar-winning filmmaker Ben Proudfoot’s short documentary Doc Albany will premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 8 at 2:30 p.m. at the Shorts Theater at Spring Studio. The film explores the medical community in Albany, Georgia, focusing on Dr. Jim Hotz, who founded Albany Area Primary Health Care, and Dr. Sheena Favors, an OB-GYN who served in the area through the National Health Service Corps (NHSC).
The NHSC places healthcare professionals in underserved areas and helps pay off their student debt. Dr. Favors, who worked in Albany through the program, stayed in the community to continue her work.
Proudfoot, known for The Last Repair Shop and The Queen of Basketball, expressed his surprise at the extent of healthcare deserts in rural America. “The NHSC is an amazing solution to a tough problem,” he said.
Doc Albany is part of Publicis Sapient’s Impact Films series, which highlights how technology can benefit communities. The series also includes Never Done and Forgiving Johnny. The documentary focuses on Hotz’s inspiration for the character in Doc Hollywood and Dr. Favors’s personal struggles with fertility, linking her experience to her role in helping mothers.
Proudfoot praised Dr. Favors for her dedication: “To understand her as an OB-GYN, you have to understand her as a person.”
The film aims to inspire medical students and doctors to consider joining the NHSC. “I hope they’ll watch and think, ‘Maybe I should enroll in that program,'” Proudfoot said.
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