The Chaplain & THE DOCTOR

Documentary Film in Production

Logline

Frustrated by watching Black patients suffer due to end-of-life healthcare inequities, two determined allies — a chaplain and a doctor — work to transform a broken medical system, one patient at a time.

Story Summary

While providing end-of-life care to Oakland's most vulnerable patients, a hospital chaplain challenges her physician protegé to look at "medicine" in a whole new way.

Betty Clark is a 79-year-old chaplain and one of few African American women on staff at the public hospital in Oakland, California. Jessica Zitter is a physician who has worked with Betty for over a decade. In the early years of their relationship, Jessica doesn’t pay much attention to the chaplain’s work, having been trained to prioritize medical interventions over spiritual connection, fast decision-making over relationship-building. But over time, Jessica starts to realize that Betty’s approach—non-judgmental, curious, and compassionate— is essential for her work as a doctor. “Everybody has a story,” is Betty’s mantra. Betty takes on the role of mentor to Jessica, inspiring in her a deep curiosity for the stories of their patients as well as soul-searching about the biases and barriers that doctors like herself often bring to the bedside. The chaplain and the doctor forge a bond that celebrates both what’s different between them, and ultimately, what is fundamentally the same. As Betty starts to face her own health challenges, Jessica witnesses more intimately the experience of patients of color in America’s hospitals – this time, with someone she’s grown to love. With increasing urgency, the two allies are further galvanized in their mission to bring humanity to our country’s most vulnerable patients.

Impact campaign

Join us in our mission to inspire and educate through powerful film-based initiatives. Keep up to date on the progress of The Chaplain & The Doctor, our premiere release rollout, and community screening tour. Impact events will include screenings with keynote and panel discussions, guided conversations, partnerships with local organizations, and more!

“The Chaplain & The Doctor is a timely and compelling documentary exploring the hidden dangers of implicit bias in healthcare. By focusing on the close relationship between a Black chaplain and a white Jewish doctor, the film highlights the power of human-to-human connection in healing an increasingly divided society.”

Darren Walker President, Ford Foundation

Meet the Film Team

  • Jessica Zitter

    Director

  • Jen Gilomen

    Producer

  • Niema Jordan

    Producer

  • Catherine King

    Executive Director, Reel Medicine Media

  • JACKIE OLIVE

    Story Consultant

  • Brian Walker

    CEO, Picture Motion

  • Jacob Bricca

    Editor

  • Jessica Jones

    Contributing Editor

  • Nicole Amyx

    Assistant Editor

  • Rajal Pitroda

    Consulting Producer

  • Katie Galloway

    Consulting Producer and Story Editor

  • Raymond Lambert

    Consulting Producer

  • Cheo Tyehimba Taylor

    Creative Consultant

  • Aurora Brachman

    Cinematographer and Creative Consultant

  • Gabe Martinez

    Sound Recordist

“Everybody has a story.”

-Chaplain BeTTy Clark

Help us tell Betty’s story by supporting The Chaplain & The Doctor film and impact campaign.

Thank you to:

our Advisors

Andre M. Cipta -Program Director of the Kaiser Permanente (KP) Palliative Medicine Fellowship

Pastor Corey Kennard - Board Member of Reimagine: End of Life and Pastor of Amplify Christian Church

Reverend Cynthia Perrilliat - Ordained Minister at Allen Temple Baptist Church and Executive Director of the Alameda County Care Alliance Collaborative

Reverend Gloria White-Hammond - Co-Pastor of Bethel AME Church and Founder and Executive Director of My Sister’s Keeper

Janice Bell, MD - Associate Dean for Research at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis

Jeannie Blaustein - Co-Founder of Reimagine, Ph.D., D. Ministry

Laer Streeter - Resident, Boston Medical Center

Lauren Domino - Academy Award- nominated Filmmaker

Loren Pogir, MPA - Partner, Transforming Care Partners

Rivkah Beth-Medow - Emmy award- winning Filmmaker, Principal of Frankly Speaking Films, and Board Director of The Kenneth Rainin Foundation

Yael Bridge - Emmy-nominated Documentary Filmmaker, Co-President at Documentary Producers Alliance

our partners and supporters

Alameda County Care Alliance Collaborative Allen Temple Baptist Church

American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) Arizona End of Life Care Partnership

Coalition for Compassionate Care of California (CCCC)

California Humanities/ California Documentary Project

Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (CTAC) The David and Lura Lovell Foundation

Ford Foundation JustFilms

The Gleanings Foundation

Highland Hospital of Alameda Health System John and Wauna Harman Foundation

Picture Motion

Reimagine

SFFILM FilmHouse & SFFILM Invest

Society for Participatory Medicine Sundance Collab

Transforming Care Partners University of Arizona Center on Aging

Thank you to our crowdfunding Supporters:

Robin Flagg • Pamela Cranston • Maureen Miller • Lisa Beritzhoff • Jennifer Ladd • Celia Sack and Paula Harris • Gloria White-Hammond • Fran Tannenbaum Kaye And Brian Kaye • Julie Martel • Ann LaCasce • Wendy Anderson • Mark Nelson • Dan Ariely • Xandra Castleton • Tessa Zitter • Sherry And Forest Otter Zitter • Sherry Michael • Rosemary Graham • Carolyn Read • Pam McCormick • Mark E Lampkin • Marin Gillis • Delane Sims • Laine Julian • Karly Donovan • Alex Smith • Julia Rose Golomb • Jennifer Reidy • S R Campbell • Heather Clague • Dennis Moonier • Befriendingdeath.com • David and Laureen Cohen • Mark Sicherman • Cristianne Fritsch • Catherine King • Landau • Linda Bulman • Birgitta Kastenbaum • Ann Gordon • Mary Kay Wright • Northern New Jersey Chapter of Hospice and Palliative Nurse Association• Kristin Fless • Ken and Lauren Parlin • Justine Jacob • Cynthia Perrilliat • Becky Waring • Tink Bess • Raja Khanna • Michael Cole • Krista Walton Potter • Jen Gilomen • Janet Keller • Dennis Galvan and Kirsti Haugen • Hadley Dynak • Grant Smith • Elizabeth Becker • Ellen Beilock • Dan and San Nowell • Caroline Lovell • Pat Murphy • Brian Kemp • Andrew and Michelle • Ashley And Matt Jerome • Naomi Applebaum • Michael Fratkin