Do You Really Want to Know?


Genre: Documentaries


Duration: 1 x 60’


Year of Production: 2012


Production Company: Optic Nerve Films Inc


Commissioned By: Knowledge Network Canada


Definition: HD


Do You Really Want to Know? faces the complex emotional, ethical and psychological issues surrounding the new frontier of predictive genetic testing. This documentary follows three families who have been confronted with the difficult decision of whether or not to be tested for Huntington’s disease – a degenerative neurological illness that is akin to having ALS, Schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s. It is one of the first diseases people can be accurately and conclusively tested for, before the onset of any symptoms. There is no treatment or cure and people with the gene have a 50% chance of passing it onto their children. The decision to be tested can never be reversed; you can’t go back to not knowing. As scientists discover more ways to identify diseases before we know we have them, the question “Do you really want to know?” will be one faced more and more.

Nominated (2013): Best Feature Length Documentary Program, Leo Awards
Nominated (2013): Best Direction on a Documentary Program or Series, Leo Awards
Nominated (2013): Best Musical Score in a Documentary Program or Series, Leo Awards