Film phase:Completed
SYNOPSIS
Jennifer, a Harvard PhD student, was signing a check at a restaurant when she found she could not write her own name. Months before her wedding, she became progressively more ill, losing the ability even to sit in a wheelchair. When doctors insisted that her condition was psychosomatic, she picked up her camera to document her own story and the stories of four other patients struggling with the world’s most prevalent orphaned disease.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Jennifer Brea is a doctoral student in the Department of Government at Harvard University on indefinite medical leave. Prior to that, she was a print journalist in Beijing and East Africa. She earned her AB in Politics from Princeton University and is a TED Fellow. The story of her illness has been featured on ABC.com and Al Jazeera. Unrest was awarded a Special Jury Prize at the Paley Center for Media’s DocPitch competition and is also supported by the Sundance Institute.