Filmmaker in NC shooting doc on teen cancer survivors

Documentary filmmaker Hernan Barangan is traveling all 50 states to film a documentary on teen cancer survivors. North Carolina is state No. 5.

Posted 9:38 p.m. Jun 3, 2014 — Updated 11:08 p.m. Jun 3, 2014

RALEIGH, N.C. — Living with cancer is one thing, but understanding and explaining it is something else.

Documentary filmmaker Hernan Barangan is part of a team traveling the country on behalf of the nonprofit Teen Cancer America capturing stories of teen cancer survivors in an effort to help young people battling all types of the disease.

No. 5 on the list is Raleigh, where Julia Sanchez was being filmed Tuesday for the feature.

"When I went through treatment, it was hard to bond with other people my age," Sanchez said. "I know that my story can make a difference."

Barangan knows the value in a story, too. At age 15, he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

He says he started making the documentary because he felt there was a disconnect in the teen cancer community, where a lot of them were feeling alone.

"I feel like I'm finally fusing what I love, which is storytelling, with what I really, really care about, because it's at my soul," Barangan said.

Sanchez and Barangan aren't just surviving their cancer, they're embracing it.

"It's a thing about cancer survivors," Barangan said. "You don't even have to talk about it. They know and you know. It's an inherent, we're-brothers kind of thing."

Suggest A Correction