Changing Hearts and Minds: A Review of Unrest

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
Awarding-winning Documentary

"Jen's "Unrest" is a naysayer-convincing, brutally honest self-portrait of a young woman with ME/CFS." Waiting

[bimg=fright|no-lightbox]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZTE3MWQxYzktODA2ZC00MzMwLTg4ZDAtOTRhOGNiNWVmZDU0L2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjEyMDA3NDA@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,666,1000_AL_.jpg[/bimg]Unrest is about to spring into action. Scheduled to go into widespread theatrical release in dozens of theaters over the next couple of months: on Sept 22nd in the U.S. and Oct. in the U.K., Unrest is about to really make its mark.

Jen Brea and her collaborators did their work well. Unrest has won a slew of awards including the Special Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival, two awards at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival, the Audience Choice award at the Riverrun Festival, the Grand Jury Prize award at the Nashville Film Festival, and the Grand Jury award at the Indie Street Film Festival. It has also gotten excellent reviews.

Indiewire noted the "striking degree of emotional authenticity" found in the film, the Hollywood Reporter called it affecting, Variety called it "consistently involving". Every review I read noted the sheer difficulty ME/CFS patients face given the neglect this disease has endured. Ending that neglect, of course, is the reason Jen Brea created this film (and the ME Action website).

"I’m hoping that this film can end the stigma, and also massively grow the scientific field. It’s really through science that we’re going to be able to find out what causes this, and ultimately how to cure this.” – Jennifer Brea, KPCW

Unrest is more than just a movie for Jen; she credits it with saving her life by giving it meaning and value even as she, formerly a Harvard graduate student, was relegated to a wheelchair and at times not even that.

Making the film saved my life in a thousand ways. I don't even mean that as metaphor—I mean, it literally saved my life. There were so many sources of meaning and value in life that were taken from me, but the film gave me a way to still be valuable and still use something of all of those experiences and all of those desires and all of those dreams that I had had.

Now may it save others lives as well. My guess is that when all is said and done, it will. Waiting, an ME/CFS patient, got the chance to see the film in May of this year; she called it an unadulterated success for the ME/CFS community. Check out her review below.

Changing Hearts and Minds: A Review of Unrest by Waiting

Disclaimer: as a PWME, I have to include a disclaimer that I may not have remembered the details precisely – it has, after all, been 2 days since I saw it (!).

The documentary is a success! By that, I mean that I, as an ME/CFS patient of more than a decade, and an advocate for erasing the stigma of this disease, believe Unrest will change hearts and minds. Should the general, healthy public see the film, I believe it will do just that.

The persuasion begins with the film's poster. It is a fashion magazine cover-worthy photo of Jen, startling in both her youthful beauty and the incongruity of electrodes glued to her head. The attached multi-coloured wires look almost pretty as they cascade down her flowing hair (the photo presumably depicts her being prepared for an MRI). (Ironically, in the film we learn an early MRI leads to a ridiculous (mis)diagnosis of "conversion disorder" from the first neurologist she saw.)

It's a startling image, which combined with the doc’s title “Unrest”, is perfect for its subject matter and compelling. It's clear that the audience is in for something different.

Opening in darkness with the sounds of someone breathing unevenly, the film itself is similarly raw. It's Jen, lying flat out on the floor, struggling to get up. She's either in a PEM-induced crash or perhaps she's in the "acute phase" of her disease when any movement could be torturous. She sobs, in frustration and pain.[fright]

Jen-and-Omar.gif
[/fright]Jen was really down, but given what we know of her, it's hard to picture her as being helpless. Her ability to enroll her husband, friends, other ME patients, advocates and professionals in her quest to tell the world what ME/CFS is like has been striking. Her optimistic personality, her humanity and her intelligence must have convinced all these people to work with her.

Unrest is Jen's story. Yes, she films ME specialists, fellow ME patients, family caregivers and shows medical politics in action, but the film is primarily about how ME affects the daily life of her and her wonderful husband, Omar. It's in their personal interactions that the film really springs to life.

Omar deserves a special mention as a spouse who has stuck by her side despite the devastating changes ME has wrought in both their lives. (Omar and Jen image from NoFilmSchool Interview.) Ironically, it's Omar who gently chides Jen for using her energy in ways that will induce post-exertional malaise – a crash – even as he recognizes that these activities are simultaneously emotionally beneficial to her. That push-pull is the continual dilemma all PWME’s face.

The Focus

The ME specialists Jen films put the science, the medical politics and the prognosis of this disease in up-to-date, relevant and concise terms. These segments are a crucial, anchoring part of the film, but they make brief appearances. The main focus is two-pronged: to elucidate the harsh reality and daily predicaments ME patients face and the obviously sexist treatment of the disease (historically, and now) by many in the medical profession, the media and the general public.

The Patients and the Caregivers

Most of the film is deeply personal as Jen courageously films the daily life of her and her husband, as they cry, attend protests together, bolster each other, and go on with their lives as best they can. Other patients make appearances as well. Some are as ill as Jen; some more so; some less so, making the point that this is a spectrum disease, as she states in the film.

[fright]
Jen-Brea-wheelchair.gif
[/fright]The caregivers do their best to make their patients as comfortable as possible. Jessica’s family, in an annual painful reminder of a young life passing by, presents her with cake & champers (UK slang for champagne) and sings her happy birthday, as she lies in her bed. The smiles are real but the underlying angst is always present: this is a young woman who's spending her life in bed.

Similarly, Whitney Dafoe’s father, Dr. Ron Davis, his mother Janet Dafoe, and sister Ashley Davis, are visibly and deeply concerned as they care for him, year after year. Whitney has a very severe case of ME, is parenterally fed and must remain in a dark, silent room. Dr. Davis, as the famous geneticist and father with the weight of the world on his shoulders, has pushed forward searching for a treatment, starting the:Open Medicine Foundation The End ME/CFS Project: Research into causes, treatment and cure of ME/CFS”.

We get to see medical politics in action during a dramatic meeting in Denmark concerning Karina Hansen, the young ME/CFS patient who was effectively imprisoned in a psychiatric ward for 3 years. After her imprisoner, the fantastically wrong-headed psychiatrist, Dr. Per Fink, presents his view of her case, Dr. Stig Gerdes stands up at the podium and essentially calls Per Fink’s psychosomatic theory pure bunk. Things get personal when Gerdes is silenced by someone running the meeting whom he sharply rebukes, using her first name. It is film gold. When Per Fink was speaking, I really, really had to restrain myself from throwing my popcorn at the screen. After all, the kernels only would have rained on the innocent filmgoers in the next row.

*Sadly, I have only just learned an update to Karina Hansen’s story. She was again imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital, then released, and now still faces future imprisonment. In an outrageous move, in March 2017, the country’s medical system took the courageous Dr. Stig Gerdes’ medical license. The fight, however, is far from over. (See the Facebook page “Justice for Karina Hansen” for details).

The Treatments

The circus-like atmosphere to some of the numerous remedies Jen tries, including hook-worm (!), prescription medications, supplements and mold-avoidance (including camping in the desert and sleeping in a backyard tent), simply underscores the desperation many patients feel. Apparently, Jen was helped by some of these treatments (in particular, the prescription drug Valcyte and mold-avoidance), but it is unclear to what extent. I’m guessing her decision not to make her treatment details/outcomes clear was a stylistic one not to inundate a broader (non-PWME) audience.

Jen also films without judgement YouTube patient testimonials from those who say they were cured by x supplement, y diet or z behavioural program. This part of the film shows the chaos we exist within. Who has ME and who doesn’t? Which treatment holds the best promise for each of us???

Go See It!

I saw the 3rd and final showing of "Unrest" at Toronto's 2017 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. I attended with a good friend who also has ME/CFS and we saw other friends there, all who also have the disease. I heard of some patients’ family members who attended. I hope the film also appealed to those untouched (so far) by the disease.

Jen's "Unrest" is a naysayer-convincing, brutally honest self-portrait of a young woman with ME/CFS. If you have family and friends who are skeptical of the severity of the disease, this film will cure them of that. I have heard that the documentary will be made available to ME advocacy groups for future showings. If you are able, go see it.

Check out the Trailer


Find an Unrest Showing

From Laemmle's Playhouse in the U.S. (Sept 29-Oct , to the IFC Center in Greenwich Village (Sept 22nd - 28th), to a free screening put on by the Bergen ME/CFS Support Group on Oct 15th, Unrest is playing across the country.

Use the film's spectacularly easy screening finder to find a showing near you and spread the word.

Host a Screening - You, too, can host a screening. Find out how here.

More Reviews


Jenny Spotila - Unrest: Movie Review
 
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The irony is many of us, myself included are far too ill to go to a theater to see the film. When I FB messaged them to inquire about when folks would be able to purchase a copy I got no straight answer as to if or when and then some comment that for one to pre-pay for an eventual copy wouldn't be 'fair' to the original investors. What the heck? Not that I don't think the movie wouldn't be good or beneficial for people to see it left me a bit confused. It's great that the project gave her encouragement to keep on keepin' on as it were, but also the fact that she is able to travel, promote the movie, give interviews I
think also is confusing to folks. Still, it's great when there is any progress in understanding ME/CFS and it's sufferers it's a good thing.
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
The irony is many of us, myself included are far too ill to go to a theater to see the film. When I FB messaged them to inquire about when folks would be able to purchase a copy I got no straight answer as to if or when and then some comment that for one to pre-pay for an eventual copy wouldn't be 'fair' to the original investors. What the heck? Not that I don't think the movie wouldn't be good or beneficial for people to see it left me a bit confused. It's great that the project gave her encouragement to keep on keepin' on as it were, but also the fact that she is able to travel, promote the movie, give interviews I
think also is confusing to folks. Still, it's great when there is any progress in understanding ME/CFS and it's sufferers it's a good thing.
It is ironic indeed that there's no way for the sicker among us to see it now but I think it will be coming to Netflix or something? I thought I heard that.

I imagine that Jen has to watch her energy very carefully. I heard that she's better than she was but I think she's still in a wheelchair. I just hope she doesn't trigger a major relapse with too much activity. So hard to know when you go too too far.
 

JenB

New Member
The irony is many of us, myself included are far too ill to go to a theater to see the film. When I FB messaged them to inquire about when folks would be able to purchase a copy I got no straight answer as to if or when and then some comment that for one to pre-pay for an eventual copy wouldn't be 'fair' to the original investors. What the heck? Not that I don't think the movie wouldn't be good or beneficial for people to see it left me a bit confused. It's great that the project gave her encouragement to keep on keepin' on as it were, but also the fact that she is able to travel, promote the movie, give interviews I
think also is confusing to folks. Still, it's great when there is any progress in understanding ME/CFS and it's sufferers it's a good thing.

Hi Stephanie! I don't know when or where you asked or who replied but first I'd say, it's *exceedingly* difficult for us to keep up with Facebook comments and Twitter @replies. The only way to get a considered response from me or my team is to contact us via our website: https://www.unrest.film/contact. I don't know when you asked but we had no precise dates to give for a very long time because we were still working out all of these plans, but have had estimated dates for when the film would be ready and in what formats in the FAQ on our website (no longer there since today's relaunch) as well as a detailed explanation as to why we are following a traditional film release model while also trying where possible to hack the format: https://www.facebook.com/notes/unrest/unrest-launch-update/915350408602693/

I'm still quite sick, am wheelchair bound, and get around because I have a husband who literally carries me. But I am much better than I was when we were shooting the film due to a good response to antivirals and mestinon. To patients who are more severe than I am, it can be confusing that I can do as much as I can. To patients who are mildly affected, they worry that my severity obscures their experience. The concerns come from all sides and I get it, we all want to see our experiences represented. The disease is a spectrum and I try my best in all moments to convey that and help audiences to see and understand all those who can't be there in the room, as well as all those in the room you would never know from simply looking are profoundly sick.

We are going to be doing several virtual screenings in connection to the theatrical launch for patients who can't make it to theaters (living within in a 100 mile radius of theatrical screenings), and many more non-geographically bound virtual screening events with Q&As, panels, and group discussion in the months to come. More on all that coming soon!

We move as fast as we can with all communication. The din and blur and insanity of this moment is hard to describe. It's a lot and we are pushing ourselves – me and my entire team – just as hard and as far as we possibly can. Bear with us.
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
Hi Stephanie! I don't know when or where you asked or who replied but first I'd say, it's *exceedingly* difficult for us to keep up with Facebook comments and Twitter @replies. The only way to get a considered response from me or my team is to contact us via our website: https://www.unrest.film/contact. I don't know when you asked but we had no precise dates to give for a very long time because we were still working out all of these plans, but have had estimated dates for when the film would be ready and in what formats in the FAQ on our website (no longer there since today's relaunch) as well as a detailed explanation as to why we are following a traditional film release model while also trying where possible to hack the format: https://www.facebook.com/notes/unrest/unrest-launch-update/915350408602693/

I'm still quite sick, am wheelchair bound, and get around because I have a husband who literally carries me. But I am much better than I was when we were shooting the film due to a good response to antivirals and mestinon. To patients who are more severe than I am, it can be confusing that I can do as much as I can. To patients who are mildly affected, they worry that my severity obscures their experience. The concerns come from all sides and I get it, we all want to see our experiences represented. The disease is a spectrum and I try my best in all moments to convey that and help audiences to see and understand all those who can't be there in the room, as well as all those in the room you would never know from simply looking are profoundly sick.

We are going to be doing several virtual screenings in connection to the theatrical launch for patients who can't make it to theaters (living within in a 100 mile radius of theatrical screenings), and many more non-geographically bound virtual screening events with Q&As, panels, and group discussion in the months to come. More on all that coming soon!

We move as fast as we can with all communication. The din and blur and insanity of this moment is hard to describe. It's a lot and we are pushing ourselves – me and my entire team – just as hard and as far as we possibly can. Bear with us.
Thanks Jen for taking the time to post. It's much appreciated during what must be a really intense time.

A supportive spouse goes a long way!

I'm glad to hear that Mestinon is helping...How about that! (you never know).)

Let us know how we can help :)
 
Hi Stephanie! I don't know when or where you asked or who replied but first I'd say, it's *exceedingly* difficult for us to keep up with Facebook comments and Twitter @replies. The only way to get a considered response from me or my team is to contact us via our website: https://www.unrest.film/contact. I don't know when you asked but we had no precise dates to give for a very long time because we were still working out all of these plans, but have had estimated dates for when the film would be ready and in what formats in the FAQ on our website (no longer there since today's relaunch) as well as a detailed explanation as to why we are following a traditional film release model while also trying where possible to hack the format: https://www.facebook.com/notes/unrest/unrest-launch-update/915350408602693/

I'm still quite sick, am wheelchair bound, and get around because I have a husband who literally carries me. But I am much better than I was when we were shooting the film due to a good response to antivirals and mestinon. To patients who are more severe than I am, it can be confusing that I can do as much as I can. To patients who are mildly affected, they worry that my severity obscures their experience. The concerns come from all sides and I get it, we all want to see our experiences represented. The disease is a spectrum and I try my best in all moments to convey that and help audiences to see and understand all those who can't be there in the room, as well as all those in the room you would never know from simply looking are profoundly sick.

We are going to be doing several virtual screenings in connection to the theatrical launch for patients who can't make it to theaters (living within in a 100 mile radius of theatrical screenings), and many more non-geographically bound virtual screening events with Q&As, panels, and group discussion in the months to come. More on all that coming soon!

We move as fast as we can with all communication. The din and blur and insanity of this moment is hard to describe. It's a lot and we are pushing ourselves – me and my entire team – just as hard and as far as we possibly can. Bear with us.

Thank you SO much for responding Jen, and with the website explanation for when we will be able to see the movie. I had sent a private FB message to your site and it's good to get this update. I can only spend a few minutes on the computer each day, but I can watch TV for much longer so being able to see it on PBS will be the best option for me. Even watching YouTube doesn't work for a lot of us because we're so sensitive to anything 'electronic'. And being able to eventually purchase copies of the movies to give to family and friends will be wonderful. At last count I've bought 10 copies of Forgotten Plague and it helped my family to REALLY understand the symptoms of this disease and the daily struggle. And I'm sure yours will be equally helpful. Thanks so much!
 

Lissa

Well-Known Member
We are going to be doing several virtual screenings in connection to the theatrical launch for patients who can't make it to theaters (living within in a 100 mile radius of theatrical screenings), and many more non-geographically bound virtual screening events with Q&As, panels, and group discussion in the months to come. More on all that coming soon!

We move as fast as we can with all communication. The din and blur and insanity of this moment is hard to describe. It's a lot and we are pushing ourselves – me and my entire team – just as hard and as far as we possibly can. Bear with us.

Hi @JenB ! My husband and I are avid supporters of your endeavors --- we can't wait to get our copy of Unrest when the time comes for the Kickstarter rewards to roll out. Woohoo!!

I saw that it's coming to Boston in October and was hoping maybe we could make it. It would be amazing to get a chance to watch it with fellow PWME.

Please do post here and let us all know about virtual screenings if/when they become available!
Thank you Jen & Omar -- for all you've done to make it happen!
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
Excellent interview with Jen here on her battle with ME/CFS and Unrest

http://www.refinery29.com/2017/09/170256/unrest-movie-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-woman

When Jennifer Brea was 28 and studying for her PhD at Harvard, she got sick with a fever that left her bedridden for days. Weeks passed, and Brea felt worse, to the point where she couldn't manage sitting up straight in a wheelchair. Doctors were confounded by the severity and complexity of her symptoms, and brushed it off as something that was "in her head."

She posted detailed descriptions of her symptoms on social media, in hopes that "someone somewhere would see this or have this," she says. Messages poured in from Brea's female friends from college, who were in their mid-to-late 20s and had experienced various other illnesses. She noticed a common thread: "They were also getting disbelieved by their doctors, and just minimized, frankly," Brea says. "It was almost like they were being perceived — I think because they were young and female — as just being kind of anxious, overly concerned, or sensitive."
I think she is entirely right. There's a reason that ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, migraine and other primarily women's disorders are getting paltry funding. I'm glad NOW is advocating for ME/CFS. I hope they will advocate for this entire branch of primarily women's disorders which the NIH is basically ignoring.

"I think this really should be part of the conversation around women's health and our own feminism," Brea says. "The only way we're going to get the equal access to treatment and what we need is by mobilizing able-bodied allies." Brea and her husband, Omar Wasow, told us what it's like living with ME/CFS, and what she hopes people gain from her film:

We so need able-bodied support and compared to other diseases we are not getting it.
 

Abrin

Well-Known Member
I am over-excited and can't wait to get my hands on a DVD of this movie to see it.

I mean, I know I have to wait and it will come in time....but I am really excited. :)
 
Awarding-winning Documentary



[bimg=fright|no-lightbox]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZTE3MWQxYzktODA2ZC00MzMwLTg4ZDAtOTRhOGNiNWVmZDU0L2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjEyMDA3NDA@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,666,1000_AL_.jpg[/bimg]Unrest is about to spring into action. Scheduled to go into widespread theatrical release in dozens of theaters over the next couple of months: on Sept 22nd in the U.S. and Oct. in the U.K., Unrest is about to really make its mark.

Jen Brea and her collaborators did their work well. Unrest has won a slew of awards including the Special Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival, two awards at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival, the Audience Choice award at the Riverrun Festival, the Grand Jury Prize award at the Nashville Film Festival, and the Grand Jury award at the Indie Street Film Festival. It has also gotten excellent reviews.

Indiewire noted the "striking degree of emotional authenticity" found in the film, the Hollywood Reporter called it affecting, Variety called it "consistently involving". Every review I read noted the sheer difficulty ME/CFS patients face given the neglect this disease has endured. Ending that neglect, of course, is the reason Jen Brea created this film (and the ME Action website).



Unrest is more than just a movie for Jen; she credits it with saving her life by giving it meaning and value even as she, formerly a Harvard graduate student, was relegated to a wheelchair and at times not even that.



Now may it save others lives as well. My guess is that when all is said and done, it will. Waiting, an ME/CFS patient, got the chance to see the film in May of this year; she called it an unadulterated success for the ME/CFS community. Check out her review below.



Check out the Trailer


Find an Unrest Showing

From Laemmle's Playhouse in the U.S. (Sept 29-Oct , to the IFC Center in Greenwich Village (Sept 22nd - 28th), to a free screening put on by the Bergen ME/CFS Support Group on Oct 15th, Unrest is playing across the country.

Use the film's spectacularly easy screening finder to find a showing near you and spread the word.

Host a Screening - You, too, can host a screening. Find out how here.

More Reviews


Jenny Spotila - Unrest: Movie Review
Thist is a really wonderful film truly giving the patients point of view and not just the walking patients but the really really sick stuck in bed patients. So so helpful in getting those who have never even imagined such an illness get to understand just a little bit. I am a carer and I have found that those friends who have seen this movie now get it why I am so anxious and why everyone associated with this wretched illness is traumatised.
Thank you for making this movie it will really help us all.
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
Unrest Virtual Screening Tickets Available

UNREST virtual screening tickets are now available!

Link to purchase via Eventbrite: http://see.unrest.film/showtimes/

These select virtual screenings are intended to make the film accessible to folks who can't travel and/or experience UNREST in theaters. To purchase, you must live within 100 miles of our theatrical cities: New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Seattle.

There is limited space so tickets are first come, first served!

21616387_965951940209206_3051493402501557281_n.png
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
From MEAction

We are excited to announce to all of our #MEAction organizers and supporters that our #TimeforUnrest campaign launches today! This official launch means the www.timeforunrest.org webpage is live, with action and advocacy opportunities, including petitions, pledges for medical professionals, screening resources and more!

The Unrest Team needs YOUR help to take over social media with our #TimeforUnrest hashtag, your ME story and why it’s #TimeforUnrest!

TODAY and throughout our campaign this fall, we're asking for your help to do the following:

1) Tell us why it's #TimeForUnrest

There are so many ways to engage with #TimeForUnrest on social media:

  • Share your personal story and write about why it’s time for unrest.
  • Post a picture of yourself holding the It's #TimeforUnrest because... sign and use the #TimeforUnrest hashtag on Facebook and Twitter. Encourage your friends and family to do the same!
  • Post a video of your #TimeForUnrest story on YouTube
  • And much more! Get creative.
  • Nothing has more power to change hearts and minds than a personal appeal.

(On the bottom Unrest social press kit, you will find a download link to a printable prompt that says It’s #TimeforUnrest because…)

2) Spread the word on social media
Visit Unrest’s social press kit, where you will find sample Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts. All you have to do is press “post to timeline” or “tweet." You can also personalize the posts!

3) Tell a friend

Unrest is in theaters starting tomorrow, Friday 9/22! Come out to see us and ask your friends and family to join. If they don’t live in one of our theatrical cities, encourage them to attend a community screening or host their own! Also check out our select, virtual screenings for homebound audiences with 100 miles of a theatrical screening. All screenings are listed on Unrest’s showtimes page.

And don’t forget to include the #TimeforUnrest hashtag on all posts!

Together, we can take the internet by storm to tell the world why it’s TIME FOR UNREST!

The Unrest team
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
Yes...PBS will air it January 8, 2018 at 10:00 pm EST. I have it memorized...lol I don't do i-tunes, but I think I saw that it will be available there sometime in October. I want to say the 10th, but not sure. Can't wait to see it!!
Someone who couldn't get her comment in wanted me to add it regarding people too ill to see it.
The concern is certainly a real one, and I will probably have to cancel my plans to go tomorrow to see it in NYC.

But I think the most important thing is for *healthy* people to see this; and the investors *do* need to recoup enough on their investment to provide incentive to people to go on making movies with this kind of social purpose in mind.

I'd especially like to see it before recommending it to my healthy friends and family. But having the reviews (and WNYC or NPR is promoting it) but I think the absolutely most important thing is for non-believers to see such a movie, not those of us who believe all to well already and need others to believe.
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
Lauren Hillenbrand actually gave a plug for Unrest. It's pretty unusual for our most well known ME/CFS patient to speak out about ME/CFS in between her books


Thirty years ago, a disease took me from the life of an athlete, an adventurous soul, and straight-A from the life of an athlete, an adventurous soul, and straight-A student to one lived in profoundly incapacitating illness, ...my body so weak and compromised that I would be bound to a bedroom for decades, sometimes unable to speak, sit up, or even turn over in bed. This widely misunderstood disease is called myalgic encaphalomyelitis, previously known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

A brilliant, eloquent, and beautiful fellow ME/CFS patient, Jennifer Brea, was similarly struck down while pursuing her doctorate at Harvard. Jen has made a film about her journey and the journey of others struggling to overcome this disease. Fittingly called "Unrest," this Sundance award-winning film opens in New York tomorrow, and in other cities soon after.
 

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