Ships in the Night is a short film focused on hospital staff experiences early in the COVID-19 pandemic

The Creative Center at University Settlement will host a virtual screening of Ships in the Night, a short film focused on the everyday struggles of hospital staff, and a panel discussion engaging with the film and its themes featuring Creative Center Hospital Artist-In-Residence and star of the film Nikki Schiro, filmmaker Malene Schjoenning, writer Nitzan Mager, and editor Alena Chang on Wednesday, August 31, from 3:00 – 4:30pm EDT.

Register to attend this free event by clicking  this link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GjK9gJTNRnGAa5p2nA9zpA

Meeting ID: 875 8418 7389

The Creative Center at University Settlement offers free daily workshops in visual, literary and performing arts to people living with cancer and other chronic illnesses as an antidote to the isolation and fear that often accompanies a serious diagnosis while helping them discover their own creative resources. Workshops taught by professional artists are held remotely and in person to supplement the community built in hospital spaces by our Hospital Artists-In-Residence, which expanded to serve caregivers and hospital staff in 2020.

Giving back and caring for hospital staff, caregivers, and essential workers is a key component of The Creative Center’s mission.

Ships in the Night stars Creative Center Artist-in-Residence Nicole Schiro and is partially based on interviews she conducted with many of the doctors and nurses she worked with closely over the course of her residency. The film, written by Nitzan Mager, examines the personal impact COVID made on the lives of hospital workers.

“Ships in the Night takes place in the early stage of the pandemic when nobody knew how serious COVID-19 was. The uncertainty around the illness was beginning to result in painful separations of loved ones,” said Malene Schjoenning, the film’s director. “During this time, many people sacrificed their personal connections to take care of others. For healthcare workers that became especially true. To protect their own families from contracting COVID-19, they stayed away from their homes for longer periods of time.”

“Hospital staff and family and paid caregivers’ experiences are rarely reflected or validated in media, despite the tremendous stresses this vital group has been under since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Sophia Heinecke, The Creative Center’s Arts and Wellness Manager.  “By presenting Ships in the Night, we hope to contribute to the important conversation about what hospital workers need, as Malene’s film does. We’re also proud to have responded to those needs in real time by expanding our workshops to these audiences in 2020.”

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