Sarasota Film Festival 2020 – The Ball Method
Alice Ball, a 23-year-old African American chemist living in 1915 Hawaii fights against racial and gender barriers to find an effective treatment for leprosy. An almost forgotten true story of African American genius and contribution to world health.
Interview with Writer/Director/Editor Dagmawi Abebe
Watch The Ball Method on Prime Video
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I made this film because I wanted to bring an untold story of an African-American scientist and hero to life and correct history. Alice Ball had numerous accomplishments in her short life. She was the first woman to graduate with a master’s degree in Chemistry from the College of Hawaii. Right after completing her thesis, she was approached by Dr Harry Hollmann who was an assistant surgeon at a hospital in Honolulu called Kalihi Hospital. He wanted her to help find an injectable treatment for leprosy. This was in 1915; the oil from the seeds of the Chaulmoogra plant was being used to treat patients — it was applied as a lotion and they tried giving it orally but patients would vomit it out. The only way to make it effective was to make it injectable. But making it injectable would burn a patient’s skin because the oil isn’t water-soluble, and the human body has a lot of water in it. Alice was able to find an effective solution so that the body could take the treatment. Unfortunately, after she found the treatment, the Dean of the College of Hawaii where she worked – who was also named Dean – he basically took her research and added to it, called it The Dean Method, and didn’t give her credit. She wasn’t recognized until 2000.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Audiences should watch this film for several reasons. Alice's story can serve as an inspiration for numerous minorities interested in pursuing STEM fields. It gives an insight into a particular time in history, specifically a time where leprosy patients were separated from their families and exiled into a remote island named, Moloka'i. It can also serve as a parallel to what the world is going through right now with the COVID-19 outbreak and human cost of ignorance.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
At a time where it was normal to have a social stigma associated with leprosy patients, the themes of courage and ambition work together in the film to present a woman who is ahead of her time, full of empathy, and dedicated to improving public health.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
In the beginning, the script was trying to cover a lot of Alice Ball's life and it was not working for a short film. Once I realized it would not have done Alice and her story justice to approach it that manner, I asked myself what was the most important aspect of her life to capture in this short format. In the end, I decided to focus only on the time she spent working at Kalihi Hospital.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
I've received great feedback so far, especially from the scientific and academic community. I was able to share Alice Ball's story on NPR's Science Friday, with employees at Youtube and Google, The Popolo Project, and audiences at the Pan African Film Festival, where we premiered. People are thankful that the film is correcting history and shedding light on an unsung hero.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
The feedback surprised me in that I never thought her story and this film could be used as an educational device when I was first making the film. I was only focused on telling this inspirational woman's story, but it's really great to get emails from people who connect with her struggles and want to share her story with their colleagues or families.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I'm hoping more people will get to hear of Alice Ball's story and share it within their communities and networks.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
I would like to make a feature film version of Alice Ball's story as well as tell other untold minority stories, so I am looking for producers, distributors, film festival directors, and journalists to help me in that endeavor.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I would like for this film to motivate people to work hard no matter their situation and to always be ambitious in whatever goal they are trying to achieve.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
How does a woman who solved a centuries-old medical problem disappear in history?
Would you like to add anything else?
My goal as a filmmaker is to uncover and bring the numerous stories of forgotten heroes, communities, and cultures to the forefront of American cinema. Alice’s story not only allowed me to delve into her struggle but also allows me to explore the forgotten world of leprosy patients who were exiled into the island of Moloka’i. I believe Alice, being an African-American in 1915, related to the marginalization and stigma associated with these patients, which in turn drove her to succeed in her research.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I recently finished writing what will hopefully be my first feature film, which is a story that focuses on the effect of divorce in an Ethiopian immigrant family living in the United States.
Interview: May 2020
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
The Ball Method
Alice Ball, a 23-year-old African American chemist living in 1915 Hawaii fights against racial and gender barriers to find an effective treatment for leprosy. An almost forgotten true story of African American genius and contribution to world health.
Length: 18:46
Director: Dagmawi Abebe
Producer: Mehmet Gungoren, Grace Lee
Writer: Dagmawi Abebe, Javier Carmona
About the writer, director and producer:
DAGMAWI ABEBE is an Ethiopian born-American Writer, Director, and Editor who immigrated to the United States at the age of ten and grew up in Virginia. He attended the University of Virginia where he majored in physics and minored in film studies. He is a graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
YEON JIN LEE is a Korean American director, writer, and producer. She is currently finishing her third year in the Film / TV Production MFA Program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts where she is an Annenberg Fellow. Yeon Jin is currently in pre-production of her thesis film, The Testimony, about an undocumented medical student who decides to testify at the United States Senate’s Oversight Hearing on DACA.
Key cast: Kiersey Clemons (Alice Ball), Kyle Secor (Dr. Hollmann) , Wallace Langham (Dr. Dean), Elizabeth Hales (Nurse Addie), Cj Uy (Kalani), Ernie Rivera (Test Patient), Cailin McDonald (Nurse Harper)
Looking for: film festival directors, producers, buyers, distributors, journalists, sales agents
Facebook: Dagmawi Y Abebe
Twitter: @dagabebe
Instagram: @dagabebe
Hashtags used: #theballmethod
Website: www.dagabebe.com
Other: IMDb
Made in association with: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the University of Southern California
Funders: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Kickstarter
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Sarasota Film Festival - Online