The Healer

Directed by Alexandra Halkin

MESSAGE FROM THE GUO FAMILY

“This documentary is deeply meaningful to our family. It honors the life and work of Zhengang Guo, whom we loved dearly, and allows their story to be shared with the world. We’re proud of his decades of work helping others, and grateful that others will now get to know them through this film.”

Dr. Guo in Galveston, TX (1983)

SYNOPSIS

The Healer is an experimental short documentary (under 30 minutes) that tells the story of Dr. Zhengang Guo, a seventh generation Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) doctor who set up his practice in Chicago in the early 1980s. The film began production in 2017 when director, and patient of Dr. Guo, Alexandra Halkin started interviewing him on his life and work in Chicago. Since his passing in 2024, the film has become a dedication to his memory and legacy as a healer.

This short sample shares a scene of Dr. Guo in his garden and an interview where he recounts his first TCM clinic.

Chicago, IL

Documentary

STORY

Dr. Guo at The First American International Conference of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (1994)

Our film begins by exploring the socio-political environment in which Dr. Guo came of age in China. He was born in the early 1940s during the Japanese aerial attacks on China. Dr. Guo learned TCM from his father, who taught him about diagnosis, treatment, and the principles of TCM from an early age. Dr. Guo’s father also encouraged him, as he got older, to learn western medical science in order to open up more possibilities for treating his patients.

Dr. Guo subsequently went to western medical school in China and in the late 1970s, he received a scholarship to conduct pharmacological research in Houston at MD Anderson before eventually settling in Chicago.

The Healer will show the impact Dr. Guo had as an early teacher of TCM in Chicago. It will explore TCM as a medicinal practice spanning across 2000 years of history, its philosophical and ideological development, and how it came to be widely used across the U.S. To illustrate the more complex theories underlying TCM theory and practice, the film will incorporate animation and different visual and graphic techniques to tell Dr. Guo's story.

Dr. Guo and Dr. Fu in Houston (1981-1982)

DONATE

Checks payable to Americas Media Initiative (memo: The Healer) and addressed to our offices at: Americas Media Initiative
4750 N Sheridan Rd, Suite 329 Chicago, IL 60640

Funding will cover:

  • Filming interviews with several of Dr. Guo’s students and collaborators in the Chicago area

  • Potential trip to China to film with family and other collaborators

  • Acquisition of archival footage from both the U.S. and China

  • Working with animators to create visuals inspired by original TCM texts and illustrations, incorporating the different plants used in TCM herbal formulas with a focus on herbs Director Alexandra Halkin was prescribed by Dr. Guo over the years

  • Editing and post-production costs

  • A website for the film

  • A two year impact campaign that will screen the film at U.S.-based medical schools and community health centers, continuing Dr. Guo's mission to bridge the gap in understanding between Western medicine and TCM.

Dr. Guo receiving Acupuncturist of the Year award (1990s)

Dr. Guo with Herbs in Oak Park, IL Home Basement (1983)

IMPACT CAMPAIGN

We are designing a two year Impact Campaign for the distribution of The Healer which will focus on screening the film at U.S.-based medical schools and community health centers. Throughout his medical practice, Dr. Guo made it one of his core missions to bridge the gap in understanding between western medicine and TCM. We feel it is critical to continue that mission—that as young people are trained to become doctors in western medicine, they are also made aware of the history, philosophy, and utility of using TCM to treat chronic illness.

As a patient who has used TCM for over 40 years, Director Alexandra Halkin will travel with the film as a spokesperson for its effectiveness. Although the film is not a polemic – Western Medicine vs. TCM – Ms. Halkin will share her own personal stories with both types of medicine.

We will also submit the film to film festivals, and work to eventually partner with Icarus Films for educational and home streaming in order to further share Dr. Guo’s story with a wider audience base. 

  • Local premiere and festival screenings.

  • National impact campaign in partnership with medical schools across the U.S. Distribution with Icarus Films for educational and home screening.

“It’s difficult to describe just how important a role Dr. Guo played in my life. He was my doctor for 40 years and kept me incredibly healthy and gave me such important spiritual guidance. I’m honored to be able to make this film to preserve Dr. Guo’s legacy as a doctor, healer and teacher for future generations.”

Alexandra Halkin
Director, The Healer

PRODUCTION TEAM

  • Alexandra Halkin

    DIRECTOR

    In 1998, Alexandra co-founded the Chiapas Media Project (CMP) an award winning binational organization that trained over 200 indigenous men and women in video production in Chiapas and Guerrero, Mexico. Alexandra has consulted with various organizations such as Witness, and CLACPI (Latin American Coordinator for Indigenous Film and Communication). In 2004, Alexandra was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for the Latin American Indigenous Video Initiative (LAIVI). In 2007, Alexandra was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for the Indigenous Audiovisual Archive (IAA) in Oaxaca, Mexico. During this time she also produced five short documentaries in collaboration with Mexican human rights organizations - some winning international awards. In 2010, Alexandra founded the  Americas Media Initiative  (AMI) a nonprofit organization that works with Cuban filmmakers living in Cuba. For the last five years, Alexandra has collaborated with ProMedios to create the Center for the Preservation of Community Audiovisual Archives (CEPAAC) based in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. In 2023 Alexandra was awarded MacDowell and Bogliasco artist fellowships to work with footage from the CEPAAC archive.

  • Brian Lu

    PRODUCER

    Brian is a Taiwanese American dancer and filmmaker based in Chicago, IL. Initially entering filmmaking as a dance videographer for local dance crews, he subsequently embarked on his journey into documentary through an internship with Kartemquin Films. Informed by these experiences, he is forging a unique documentary practice built upon understated observational storytelling and astute attention to movement and rhythm. He is a proud member of the Asian American Documentary Network and co-founder of the Chicago-based Red Door Media Collective. He was an assistant editor on Dissidents (2024) which premiered at the VC Film Fest. His first documentary feature "idols" is in progress, and has been supported by the CID’s Kopkind Residency, A-Doc Allies, and the Kartemquin Films Lab. Recently, he became a 2024-2025 Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellow for emerging documentary film editors. His films have been selected to screen at the Evanston Experimental Showcase, the Big Picture Peoria Film Festival, the Wisconsin Film Festival, and the Onion City Experimental Film Festival.

CONTACT

If you would like to reach out to Ms. Halkin about The Healer, you can email her at: info@americasmediainitiative.org