A Fight for breath: emphysema

Canada, 1974

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A film aimed at youngsters tempted by cigarettes but also for all those already addicted. Why a man suffering from emphysema has difficulty breathing is graphically illustrated. The entire respiratory system is shown in animated cross-sectional models, down to the smallest air cells, the alveoli. That is where the breakdown begins that eventually leads to impaired pulmonary function. This internal view of the damage done to the lungs is one that no viewer can ignore.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

director

Joe Licastro

producer

Floyd Elliott

production company

National Film Board of Canada

Duration

00:11:40:00

Production places

Canada

Production dates

1974

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

003639

Language

English

Subject categories

Documentary

Documentary → Documentary films - Canada

Education, Instruction, Teaching & Schools → Drug abuse - Study and teaching

Educational & Instructional

Educational & Instructional → Educational films

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Cigarette habit

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Cigarette smokers

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Diseases - Prevention

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Drug abuse - Study and teaching

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Emphysema, Pulmonary

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Health education

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Tobacco - Physiological effect

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Tobacco habit

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Youth - Tobacco use

Short films

Short films → Short films - Canada

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/67469--a-fight-for-breath-emphysema/ |title=A Fight for breath: emphysema |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=16 March 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}