For World Cancer Day (Feb. 4), Gustave Roussy, a treatment center in France ranked number one in Europe and number four in the world in the fight against cancer, is once again speaking out through film. “Lucie” retraces the life of a young woman, from her birth, her joys, her encounters and her trials, in particular the illnesses she faced or may have faced (if not vaccinated) during her life but which did not kill her thanks to advances in science and medicine, including the discovery of her rare cancer at the age of 36.

Conceived by Publicis Conseil and directed by Jaco Van Dormael via production company Hamlet, “Lucie” takes the gamble of using almost exclusively scientific images to tell this story (scanners, MRIs, microscopes, 3D). It highlights the beauty of these images beyond their raw meaning, the poetry that can emerge from them to pay tribute to all the researchers, doctors and specialists who over the centuries have transformed what were once serious illnesses into benign ones, saving many lives in the process. Like most of us, Lucie lives her life without even thinking about all the times when science and medicine have enabled her to go on living.

“In a world where cancer affects one person in two and more and more young adults, we want to show that the disease is a stage in life from which the majority of sufferers are now recovering, thanks to scientific progress. Lucie’s story is the story of thousands of patients. This film makes Gustave Roussy, its doctors, researchers and professionals part of the history of major scientific advances,” said Professor Fabrice Barlesi, CEO of Gustave Roussy.