If Dreams Were Lightning: Rural Healthcare Crisis

If Dreams Were Lightning: Rural Healthcare Crisis explores the lives of people living in the rural South with limited or no access to healthcare.

Man sitting next to a woman's bedside with a cross on the wall
Series
Independent Lens
Premiere Date
January 10, 2024
Length
24 minutes
Funding Initiative
Diversity Development Fund
Series and Special Projects
Headshot of man
Director

Ramin Bahrani

Academy Award, BAFTA, WGA and Emmy nominee Ramin Bahrani is the Iranian-American filmmaker of Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, 99 Homes and The White Tiger. A Guggenheim Fellowship winner, his debut feature doc 2nd Chance premiered at Sundance and was released by Showtime. In 2010, Roger Ebert proclaimed Bahrani as “the director of the decade.”

Other ITVS Films
Goodbye Solo
Plastic Bag
Headshot of man
Producer

Jason Orans

Independent Spirit, Image, and Emmy Award-nominee Jason Orans is a producer of scripted films, docuseries, and documentaries. Projects include: Mafia Tapes for Discovery, Charm Circle and The Great Invisible, Ramin Bahrani's Goodbye Solo, Blood Kin, and Plastic Bag, and Dare starring Emmy Rossum and Rooney Mara.

Headshot of woman
Producer

Pamela Ryan

Pamela Ryan produces documentaries, scripted films, and podcasts. Her projects include: Mafia Tapes for Discovery, Ramin Bahrani’s Blood Kin, Night School, and Margaret Brown’s Emmy Award-nominated The Great Invisible, along with award-winning independent features. Pamela was selected as an Impact Partners Documentary Producing Fellow.

Other ITVS Films
Great Invisible

We fund untold stories for public media.

Learn more about funding opportunities with ITVS.

The Film

When Ramin Bahrani was young, he would often accompany his father, a physician, to remote hospitals and clinics throughout North Carolina and Virginia. Now, decades later, rural hospitals around the country are closing at alarming rates, leaving community members without care. If Dreams Were Lightning: Rural Healthcare Crisis is an exploration into the lives of people living in the rural South with limited or no access to healthcare.

Topics