Controversial Dox

Unrest

Jennifer Brea
Screening time  
27.02. / Tuesday, 19:00 - 21:00 Theatre 5  
27.02. / Tuesday, 22:00 - 00:00 Theatre 4  
Jennifer is twenty-eight years old, working on her PhD at Harvard, and months away from marrying the love of her life when a mysterious fever leaves her bedridden.

Unrest is a personal journey from patient to advocate to storyteller. Jennifer is twenty-eight years old, working on her PhD at Harvard, and months away from marrying the love of her life when a mysterious fever leaves her bedridden. When doctors tell her it's ‘all in her head,’ she picks up her camera as an act of defiance and brings us into a hidden world of millions that medicine abandoned. 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, Jennifer connects with others around the globe. Like a modern-day Odysseus, she travels by Skype into a forgotten community, crafting intimate portraits of four other families suffering similarly. Jennifer Brea's wonderfully honest and humane portrayal asks us to rethink the stigma around an illness that affects millions.

Jennifer Brea

Jennifer Brea is an independent documentary filmmaker based in Los Angeles and founder and director of Shella Films. She has an AB from Princeton University and was a PhD student at Harvard until a sudden illness left her bedridden. In the aftermath, she rediscovered her first love, film. Her debut feature is Unrest (2017).

General sponsor

UNREST

USA
2017, 97'

Directed by:
Jennifer Brea

Screenplay by:
Jennifer Brea, Kim Roberts

Cinematography:
Sam Heesen, Christian Laursen

Music:
Bear McCreary

Producers:
Jennifer Brea, Lindsey Dryden, Patricia E. Gillespie, Alysa Nahmias

Produced by:
Shella Films

Festivals & Awards:

Sundance Film Festival 2017 – Special Jury Prize, Sheffield Doc/Fest 2017 –  Alternate Realities Virtual Reality Award – Illuminate Award, Nashville Film Festival 2017 – Grand Jury Prize; RiverRun International Film Festival 2017 – Audience Choice Award, Cinema Eye Honors Awards 2018 – Cinema Eye Honors Award; Indie Street Film Festival 2017 – Jury Award, Hot Docs 2017, SXSW 2017; CPH:DOX 2017, Cleveland International Film Festival 2017; Dallas International Film Festival 2017, Melbourne International Film Festival 2017