Peter Nicks in THE WAITING ROOM

Though the issue of health care is a hot-button political one these days, Peter Nicks had another reason for making THE WAITING ROOM, a film that is already getting awards recognition. The inspiration,though, was not politics, but rather a remarkable African musician. It was Nicks’ wife, a speech pathologist, who told him about the effect that musician had on the people in and community around Oakland’s Highland Hospital waiting room that got Nicks thinking that there was a documentary to be made. When we spoke on October 9, 2012, he talked about that, but I wanted to know how he got the access to the facility, and to the people who were often having the worst day of their lives. The conversation turned to the remarkable, and remarkably compassionate, staff at the hospital, the hidden expenses of using an ER as a primary source for healthcare, and why Nicks was adamant about not editorializing.