Ukiah’s Grace Hudson Museum screens docudrama on the life—and death— of Henrietta Lacks

UKIAH, CA., 7/8/26 — On Saturday, July 11, from 2-4 p.m., the Grace Hudson Museum presents a screening of the docudrama film, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a unique story of a mid-20^th century African American woman whose cancer cells were used to foster innovative research without the family’s knowledge. Oprah Winfrey plays Deborah, Henrietta’s daughter, who is struggling to preserve her mother’s legacy. Rose Byrne plays Rebecca Skloot, a white journalist attempting to gain Deborah’s and other family members’ trust in order to write a book on Henrietta’s story.

Closely based on Skloot’s book, the film is sensitively acted and scripted, with a light touch of wit. It unfolds themes on the strong bonds of family and the forces that seek to draw people apart, as Henrietta endures racism and segregation during a time when medical patients had little knowledge of their rights to privacy.