One film set to screen in Kelowna is bringing awareness to a little-known medical condition.
The UBCO Disability Resource Centre is hosting a screening of Unrest, a Sundance award-winning film by Jennifer Brea at 5:30 p.m., Oct. 3, at the University Centre Building, Room 106, 3272 University Way.
Twenty-eight year-old Jennifer Brea is working on her PhD at Harvard and months away from marrying the love of her life when she gets a mysterious fever that leaves her bedridden and looking for answers. Disbelieved by doctors yet determined to live, she turns her camera on herself and discovers a hidden world of millions confined to their homes and bedrooms by ME, commonly known as chronic fatigue syndrome, according to the resource centre.
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) is a systemic neuroimmune condition characterised by post-exertional malaise (a severe worsening of symptoms after even minimal exertion). It causes dysregulation of both the immune system and the nervous system. The effects of ME are devastating enough to leave 25 per cent of patients housebound or bedbound. In many parts of the world, it is commonly known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. An estimated 15 to 30 million people around the world are suffering from ME, according to the research centre.
The film launches with an attached social impact campaign, Time for Unrest, which aims to increase the public’s knowledge of this little known disease, mobilize the patient and ally community, encourage empathetic care from medical practitioners, and encourage more research in countries throughout the world.
“When I got sick, I was shocked to encounter this world I had never heard of and knew nothing about. For decades, people living with ME have been missing from their lives. It’s my hope that in telling this story, we will no longer be relegated to the shadows, that our experience will be seen and recognized,” said director Jennifer Brea.
To learn more about the film and campaign visit timeforunrest.org or on social media, post using #timeforunrest.
Tickets can be purchased online or by calling 250-807-9203.