High school students Hanife Ozbay and Alec Winters were recently chosen as special guests to attend the premiere screening of Ken Burns’ new documentary, “Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies,” held at Jazz at Lincoln Center at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in Manhattan.
Produced by Burns and directed by Barak Goodman, the film was based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book, “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer,” written by Siddhartha Mukherjee. The six-hour PBS documentary focused on the history of cancer from its beginnings in Egypt to the modern day, and the efforts of doctors and researchers throughout the years to remedy the disease. 

The Deer Park students, accompanied by teacher Janet Werner, were treated to a limo ride to Lincoln Center for the preview, where they were given the red carpet treatment. Prior to the event, the students toured the cancer labs at Stony Brook University Hospital, meeting cancer research doctors and hospital staff.

The event at Lincoln Center was hosted by Burns and Katie Couric. Doctors, scientists, cancer researchers, celebrities and all those who had a hand in creating the film – including the patients who were highlighted and their families – were in attendance.