Unrest

From MEpedia, a crowd-sourced encyclopedia of ME and CFS science and history
(Redirected from Canary in a Coal Mine)
Unrest.jpg

Unrest is a documentary film about ME/CFS that premiered in January 2017 at the Sundance Film Festival. Jennifer Brea, a patient herself, directed filming from her sickbed using video conferencing tools.[1][2] The film was primarily funded through a Kickstarter campaign which raised $212,962.[3]

The film's previous working title was Canary in a Coal Mine.

Unrest premiered in competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, in the US Documentary category. Brea won the category U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing. [4][5][6]

PBS acquired the US broadcast rights for Unrest and was broadcast on Independent Lens January 8, 2018.[7][8]

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also known as Oscars announced on 7 December 2017 that Unrest was shortlisted as one of 15 films from the original 170 films nominated and advanced for voting for the 90th academy awards.[9]

In September of 2018, Unrest was granted Continuing Education Credit in the US for doctors, nurses, therapists, pharmacists, and social workers.[10]

Awards and fellowships[edit | edit source]

  • 2013 Paley Center DocPitch
  • 2014 Sundance DFP Grant
  • 2014 Chicken & Egg Grant
  • 2014 Harnisch Foundation Grant
  • 2015 Sundance DFP Fellowship
  • 2015 Good Pitch New York
  • 2015 IFP Spotlight on Documentaries
  • 2016 Fledgling Fund Audience Engagement Fellowship
  • 2016 IFP Documentary Lab
  • 2016 Tribeca Film Institute Network Market
  • 2016 Sheffield Doc/Fest MeetMarket and Alternate Realities
  • 2016 Firelight Media Lab
  • 2016 Sundance Edit & Story Lab
  • 2017 Sundance Film Festival US Documentary Competition

Continuing education credit[edit | edit source]

Notable people[edit | edit source]

  • Jennifer Brea (Director/Producer, screenwriter)
  • Deborah Hoffmann (Executive Producer & Creative Advisor)
  • Lindsey Dryden (Producer)
  • Patricia Gillespie (Producer)
  • Alysa Nahmias (Co-Producer)
  • Kim Roberts (Editor and screenwriter)
  • Emiliano Battista (Editor)
  • Sam Heesen, Christian Laursen (Director of photography)
  • Bear McCreary (Composer)

A list of all those involved in the film has been published.[1]

List of media articles[edit | edit source]

Unrest also led to groundbreaking and unprecedented positive media articles for ME sufferers in the United Kingdom which documented the history, politics and denial of the biomedical evidence for psychosomatic theories and the involvement of insurance companies and psychiatrists in the disease of ME. This information was available on the internet but had not been published in the mainstream media as this had previously been impossible due to the power and influence of the biopsychosocial psychiatrists and Science Media Centre. On 2 November 2017 the Huffington Post UK reported 'Will The UK Establishment Finally Stop Denying The Reality Of ME?' which in a first examined the injustice faced by ME sufferers due to the British psychiatrists and the largest research trial, the PACE trial. On 7 January 2018, The Independent published 'Time for Unrest: Why patients with ME are demanding justice' which also investigated in-depth the history of the injustice faced by ME sufferers and the involvement of certain psychiatrists and insurance industry and Dr David Tuller's expose of the PACE trial which was also commented on by the film's director. [11]

Reviews[edit | edit source]

Screenings[edit | edit source]

Unrest has screened in cinemas and film festivals around the world.[12] Unrest has also had special screenings in the UK Houses of Parliament in London where it was shown in the State Rooms by the Speaker of the House of Commons in October 2017 attended by numerous Members of Parliaments.[13] A special screening of the film will also be shown in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh to be attended by MSP's on 30 January 2018.[14]

Online presence[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

Learn more[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Team". UNREST. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  2. Eng, Karen Frances (October 25, 2013). "Illuminating an illness without end: Fellows Friday with Jennifer Brea". TED Blog. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  3. Canary in a Coal Mine Kickstarter
  4. S, Jaime (November 30, 2016). "Jen Brea's 'Unrest' to Debut at Sundance Film Festival - #MEAction". #MEAction. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  5. "2017 Sundance Film Festival: Competition And Next Lineup Announced". sundance.org. November 29, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  6. "'18 Sundance Film Festival - Award Winners". sundance.org. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  7. "Unrest | Filmmaker Documents Struggles with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (M.E.) | Independent Lens | PBS". Independent Lens. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  8. Winfrey, Graham (January 31, 2017). "PBS Buys Sundance Medical Mystery Documentary 'Unrest'". IndieWire. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  9. "15 DOCUMENTARY FEATURES ADVANCE IN 2017 OSCAR® RACE". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. December 7, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  10. 10.0 10.1 "Unrest Continuing Medical Education Program". UNREST. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  11. "Thread by @jenbrea: ".@_NathalieWright's withering @Independent piece lays bear the gaps in how is viewed on either side of the pond and the vested intere […]" #mecfs #pwme". Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  12. "Screenings". UNREST. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  13. Shepherd, Charles (October 26, 2017). "ME Association review of Unrest in Parliament: "I cannot recall a parliamentary meeting where we have had so much genuine interest in ME/CFS" | 26 October 2017". The ME Association. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  14. "Scottish Parliament to host screening of Unrest – Invite your MSP to attend | 17 January 2018". The ME Association. Retrieved October 14, 2018.