More From Teen Cancer America
Hernan Barangans Road Rebellion: The West
Roger Daltrey Presents: Teen Cancer America
In 2015, filmmaker and leukemia survivor Hernan Barangan set out on a quest to film the voices of young cancer patients from every state in the country. The resulting short documentary, Road Rebellion, follows Barangan as he aims to change the face of U.S. healthcare for teenagers and young adults with cancer, creating a lasting legacy for the young people of the future. The documentary will air on KCET on Saturday, October 8 as part of the special programming lineup, Roger Daltrey Presents: Teen Cancer America featuring the front man for The Who, Roger Daltrey, speaking about raising awareness for the special needs of teenage cancer patients through his non-profit organization, Teen Cancer America. The special lineup kicks off at 8:00 p.m. with the documentary Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who followed by Road Rebellion.
KCET spoke with director Hernan Barangan about the challenges he encountered while filming his documentary and what life is like after a cancer diagnosis at such a young age.
--
--
What do you hope that someone who has not been affected by cancer takes away from your film?
Hernan Barangan | Courtesy Teen Cancer America
Hernan Barangan: Throughout making this film, one of my biggest goals has been to reach those who have no experience with cancer whatsoever. If I can give them a better understanding of what it's like to have cancer -- then everybody is a little more prepared for the moment when someone they know actually is diagnosed.
My hope is that this dispels a lot of the fear that comes in that moment. So that everybody is more equipped emotionally to support that person who has been diagnosed.
What kind of challenges did you encounter in getting your subjects to open up about their experiences for the film?
HB: The fact that I'm a cancer survivor goes a long way towards forging a bond while we're filming. Still, every interview has its own challenges. It's up to me to find that one moment when both my interviewee and I forget completely that we are filming. Our sessions usually feel more like storytelling hangouts -- and usually an interview will run for 2 hours or more.
How did the home and social life change for your subjects while they were going through cancer treatment?
You get diagnosed with cancer and it's like being airlifted into a completely different life.
HB: Obviously every situation is unique, but overall the story goes like this: You get diagnosed with cancer and it's like being airlifted into a completely different life. The dynamic in your family is changed forever. You're afraid or sad or in pain but you can never let it show because you have to protect your family from what you're going through. Maybe you have siblings and they have a whole other set of emotions to deal with. Now you've got all the attention of your parents -- where does it leave them? And what about your school friends?
In this age group, how can anyone expect them to react well to the news that you have cancer? Many stay away because they have no idea how to act around you anymore. A good friend will step up and face the challenge with you. Either way, they'll never look at you the same.
It's an age when home and social life are already in flux to begin with. Adding cancer to that just makes it so much more complicated.
When youre young you often feel invincible. What does a cancer diagnosis at this age teach you about life?
I remember looking to the future and feeling two things: that life is so fragile and it can all be taken away at any moment, and that every moment is the most precious gold.
HB: When I was fresh out of treatment -- and cancer free -- I remember looking to the future and feeling two things: that life is so fragile and it can all be taken away at any moment, and that every moment is the most precious gold.
I had this ecstatic feeling that the world is a playground and I was here -- I beat cancer -- I could do anything. I was afraid that as the years passed I would forget that. But this perspective that you gain as a young person who has faced death -- it sticks with you as long as you ask it to. Over the years, for me, it has evolved into a pretty unique understanding of the world.
I hope with my filmmaking a little of that spark can be passed to audiences everywhere.
Interview edited for brevity and clarity. Watch a preview of Road Rebellion below:
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
More From Teen Cancer America 
