Jennifer Brea is an active Harvard PhD student about to marry the love of her life when suddenly her body starts failing her. Hoping to shed light on her strange symptoms, Jennifer grabs a camera and films the darkest moments unfolding before her eyes as she is derailed by M.E. (commonly known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), a mysterious illness some still believe is “all in your head.”
In this story of love and loss, newlyweds Jennifer and Omar search for answers as they face unexpected obstacles with great heart. Often confined by her illness to the private space of her bed, Jen is moved to connect with others around the globe. Utilizing Skype and social media, she unlocks a forgotten community with intimate portraits of four other families suffering similarly. Jennifer Brea’s wonderfully honest portrayal asks us to rethink the stigma around an illness that affects millions of people. Unrest is a vulnerable and eloquent personal documentary that is sure to hit closer to home than many could imagine.
Unrest world-premiered January in the documentary competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Prize for editing. It has since screened at SxSW, CPH:DOX, HotDocs, River Run (Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature), the Nashville Film Festival (Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature), among Sheffield Doc/Fest (Illuminate Award). It also has a companion VR piece which premiered at Tribeca and won the Jury Award for best VR at Sheffield/DocFest.
You can find a full list of screenings HERE.
If you can’t make it to the theaters to see UNREST at the IFC in New York City this weekend, you can see it right from your bed!
There are two virtual screenings for those unable to physically come to a screening. There are a limited number of virtual seats, so please only purchase a virtual ticket if you have ME, other chronic illness, a disability, or caregiving tasks that prevent you from traveling to the theater.
You can easily watch from your tablet, phone, or hook up to your TV!
Get virtual tickets here: http://see.unrest.film/showtimes/
Note: You will need to change the screening search criteria from “community, theatrical and festivals” to “virtual screenings” in the drop down menu.
Unrest will be shown in New York City at the IFC Center September 22-28. Thanks to the generous support of the Harnisch Foundation, the Unrest team is offering FREE tickets to medical professionals, researchers, and anyone working in healthcare to select screenings. Know anyone working at a hospital, university or health organization in New York? Ask them if they can share this announcement with their distribution list. Learn more: http://unrest.film/nyc-health-outreach