Oliver Sacks: His Own Life

Oliver Sacks: His Own Life explores the life and work of the legendary neurologist and storyteller, as he shares intimate details of his battles with drug addiction, homophobia, and a medical establishment that accepted his work only decades after the fact. Sacks, known for his literary works Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, was a fearless explorer of unknown cognitive worlds who helped redefine our understanding of the brain and mind, the diversity of human experience, and our shared humanity.  The film features exclusive interviews with Sacks conducted just weeks after he received a terminal diagnosis, and months prior to his death in August 2015, and nearly two dozen deeply revealing and personal interviews with family members, colleagues, patients and close friends, including  Jonathan Miller, Robert Silvers, Temple Grandin, Christof Koch, Robert Krulwich, Lawrence Weschler, Roberto Calasso, Paul Theroux, Bill Hayes, Kate Edgar, and  Atul Gawande, among others. The film also draws on unique access to the extensive archives of the Oliver Sacks Foundation.

Director Ric Burns said, “It turns out that the revelatory power, narrative drama and emotional force of Oliver Sacks’ own life story – his case history – rivals that of the extraordinary cohort of people he sought to humanize and understand so brilliantly, deeply and empathetically in his exceptional clinical practice and writings.  We are thrilled to be working with Zeitgest Films in association with Kino Lorber in bringing the story of Oliver’s remarkable life and work and brilliance to audiences everywhere.”