EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/276058
E W NEWS & OPINION 22 D r. Chang: F or those who have never attended, what is the brief history and background of the Film Festival? Dr. Fishkind: The Film Festival was inaugurated in 1982 with the hy- pothesis that ophthalmologists are visual scientists and film is an out- s tanding medium for instruction. Spencer Thornton, MD, and David Karcher, executive director of ASCRS, had the original concept for the Film Festival. The first Festival in 1982 had eight entries. The videos were 16 mm or 35 mm film. The submission medium and quantity were unquestionably t ransformed over time. Currently the "films" are video. Many of us have become skilled at using editing software. Thus a new cohort of creative producers has the opportunity to present as wide-ranging subject matter as can be imagined. Nowadays, videos are submitted online. The Festival, little by little, has grown in volume and importance. It now has about 160 video submis- sions each year from every country in the world! Eminent judges want to contribute to the judging process. Producers look forward to showing their creative effort and possibly winning an ASCARS trophy. Our March 2014 by David F. Chang, MD And the winner is ... I am sure that many of us who love the movies watched the Oscars being a warded during the 86th Academy Awards ceremony on March 2. For more than three decades, ASCRS annual meeting attendees have similarly made the Film Festival a cherished annual tradition. No other surgical specialty has incorporated and benefitted from video education as much as ophthalmology, and the ASCRS Film Festival is a celebration of innovative education using t his medium. The competition generates a cornucopia of new educational content each year, and the panel of expert judges does the hard work of highlighting the very best videos for ASCRS members to see. Most importantly, the Film Festival encourages every presenter to be a "producer" and to unleash their cre- ativity in the pursuit of more effective educa- tion. No longer constrained by the physical limitations of the podium, our producers blend music, humor, and striking visuals with their surgical footage in order to tell their story in the most interesting and memorable way. Of course, just as with the Hollywood ceremony, seeing the spontaneous excitement of the award winners as they run up on stage never gets old. The best part is that so many winners are international and are not sea- soned presenters, which means that anyone with a good idea and some creativity can have a meaningful impact in our field. For 10 years, Bill Fishkind, MD, has served as judge, chief judge, and chair of the ASCRS Film Festival. It is hard to imagine anyone better suited for this role. Not only is Bill an international authority in cataract sur- gery, but he has always had a flair for humor and showmanship. His daughter was in advertising and for years he would weave hilarious outtakes from foreign commercials into his presentations (I sheepishly admit that I often remembered the funny commercials more than what he was lecturing about). As Film Festival chair, Bill has elevated the awards ceremony to an even higher level of production quality and popularity. He even coined the name ASCARS for the Oscar look-alike statuette that is awarded to each winner. Although succeeded this year by the very capable Rich Hoffman, MD, Bill's charismatic shoes will be hard to fill. Please join me in honoring and thanking Bill as you read our interview this month. David F. Chang, MD, chief medical editor continued on page 24 Dr. Fishkind (right) awarding the 2011 Grand Prize to Richard Hoffman, MD, who now succeeds him as chair can make learning a challenge for a developmentally normal child," said Courtney L. Kraus, MD, pediatric ophthalmology fellow, Storm Eye Institute, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, S.C. "The coexistence of any of the aforementioned conditions and ADD/ADHD is important to recognize and treat accordingly." Dr. Kraus would like to see im- provements in testing in future re- search to ensure that if stimulants allow for optimal visual perform- ance, investigators can detect subtle improvements and perhaps help in the titration of medication use. When examining children with ADD/ADHD, both Drs. Gronlund and Kraus remind ophthalmologists to have patience. "Time and pa- tience are two key words," said Dr. Gronlund. "Most of the tests that we are doing in clinical practice reflect the cooperativeness of that child in that unique situation. If you are un- sure about the results, redo the test," she recommended. It can be helpful to test for visual-perceptual problems and encourage an examination by an orthoptist or optometrist to investi- gate for strabismus, ocular motility, stereo acuity, and near point of convergence, Dr. Gronlund said. Stimulant therapy and the cor- rection of any significant refractive error and heterotropia can help optimize the child's learning and development, Dr. Kraus said. EW References 1. Fabian ID, Kinori M, Ancri O, Spierer A, Tsinman A, Simon GJB. The possible associa- tion of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with undiagnosed refractive disorders. J AAPOS. 2013;17:507-511. 2. Mezer E, Wygnanski-Jaffe T. Do children and adolescents with attention deficit hyper- activity disorder have ocular abnormalities? Eur J Ophthalmol. 2012;22:931-935. 3. Martin L, Aring E, Landgren M, Hellstrom A, Gronlund MA. Visual fields in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder before and after treatment with stimulants. Acta Ophthalmol. 2008;86:259-264. 4. Andersson Grönlund M, Aring E, Landgren M, Hellström A. Visual function and ocular features in children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, with and without treatment with stimulants. Eye 2007;21:494-502. Editors' note: The physicians have no financial interests related to this article. Contact information Gronlund: marita.gronlund@neuro.gu.se Kraus: krausc@musc.edu Whitney: whitneyrondalyn@gmail.com Wygnanski-Jaffe: twjaffe@hotmail.com Pinpointing continued from page 19 The 2011 Film Festival judges colleagues garner the best reward, which is to learn innovative concepts from exceptional video productions. D r. C h a n g : D e s c r i b e t h e p r oc e s s o f s e l e c t i n g t h e a w a r d w i n n e r s . 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