Exploring Life's Deepest Questions Through a Medical Expert's Documentary Film

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• Philosophical Roots of a Medical Career
• Creating a Global Documentary on Life's Meaning
• The Purpose of Asking Unanswerable Questions
• The Personal Journey to Finding Peace
• From Documentary to Narrative Filmmaking
• Full Transcript

Philosophical Roots of a Medical Career

Dr. Howard Weiner, MD, reveals his foundational interest in philosophy. He was a philosophy major during his college years. This background fuels his deep curiosity about existential questions beyond the laboratory. Dr. Weiner's work in multiple sclerosis focuses on the brain's physiology. Yet he acknowledges some questions require an artistic approach for exploration.

Creating a Global Documentary on Life's Meaning

Dr. Howard Weiner, MD, produced and directed the feature documentary "What is Life? The Movie". He traveled across the globe to interview diverse individuals. The film tackles profound universal questions about existence, divinity, and morality. Dr. Weiner's method involved engaging directly with patients and people from various backgrounds. His goal was to capture a wide spectrum of human perspective on life's purpose.

The Purpose of Asking Unanswerable Questions

The documentary intentionally avoids providing concrete answers to its central questions. Dr. Howard Weiner, MD, believes the value lies in the questioning process itself. He states that wisdom is often found in the question rather than the answer. The film is designed to stimulate new ways of thinking for its audience. This reflective process can help individuals better navigate their own lives and challenges.

The Personal Journey to Finding Peace

Dr. Howard Weiner, MD, emphasizes that confronting life's big questions is a universal human experience. He notes that people gradually encounter existential concerns as they mature. Discovering evil and witnessing death forces a reckoning with life's meaning. Dr. Howard Weiner, MD, suggests every person must find their own path to inner peace. This individual journey defines how one interacts with the world and finds personal fulfillment.

From Documentary to Narrative Filmmaking

Dr. Howard Weiner, MD, has expanded his filmmaking pursuits beyond documentary work. He created a narrative feature film titled "The Last Poker Game". The movie stars Academy Award winner Martin Landau and acclaimed actor Paul Sorvino. The project completed filming and premiered at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival. Dr. Weiner anticipates theatrical release and eventual online availability for broader audience access.

Full Transcript

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: You wrote, produced, and directed a full feature documentary film titled "What is Life? The Movie". It is a topic that most humans are interested in. Could you please tell about that movie and what is the method that you took?

Dr. Howard Weiner, MD: I was a philosophy major in college and very interested in philosophical questions. I'm very interested in the brain. I study all the physiology and structural aspects of the brain. But there are some questions you can't answer in the laboratory.

Is there a God? Why is there evil? Why are we here? Then you have to turn to the arts to answer the questions or to address the questions. I made a movie. I traveled throughout the world and asked patients these questions.

The purpose of my movie is not to tell what the answers are. Because every person has to, in their life, come up with the answers. There are different answers. In the movie I talked to different people.

The movie raises the questions. Anybody who watches the movie will think about the questions in a new way. It can help them to deal with their lives and how they view the big questions.

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: Big questions are clearly very important to ask in life. Wisdom is often in the question, not necessarily in the answer.

Dr. Howard Weiner, MD: That is correct! It is an individual thing. Every person who is here, when you were born, you didn't ask big questions, right? You were a baby. Then you were two years old and then all of a sudden you got older. You discovered evil, you saw death.

What am I supposed to do in my life? Every person needs to find a certain peace in their life. About what they want to do, how they want to interact with the world. That is everybody's journey. Everybody has to deal with the big questions.

I made another movie, it is called "The Last Poker Game". This is a narrative film with the Academy Award winner Martin Landau and Paul Sorvino. We are done filming, it was at the Tribeca Film Festival. It should be in theaters in half a year.

I hope patients will watch that and hopefully it will be available online.

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: Absolutely! Professor Weiner, thank you very much for this conversation! We have covered very important topics in multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases. We are looking forward to return to you in the future!

Dr. Howard Weiner, MD: Okay, thank you very much! Thank you!