Film on ME/ CFS premieres in Northern California

[Hope123]

This has been mentioned in the past but since tickets just went on sale to the public on Monday, I thought I'd remind people that the UK film 'Voices from the Shadows' will be shown for the first time in the US Saturday October 8th at the Mill Valley Film Festival in San Rafael. The film is about an hour and will be followed by a panel discussion about ME/ CFS that includes the filmmakers, David Tuller (of the New York Times), Dr. Jose Montoya (of Stanford University), and one or two people with ME/ CFS.

Please lend your support by attending this event or encouraging people you know to attend. The Mill Valley Film Festival is well-known in the world of film and a good turnout may attract attention from film distributors, producers, other film festival program directors so that the film can be more widely seen.

Movie trailer: http://voicesfromtheshadowsfilm.co.uk/

Mill Valley Film Fest info: http://www.mvff.com/

 

[Timaca]

I plan on attending! Just bought my ticket!
Thanks for posting this!
Timaca

 

[alex3619]

Hi Hope 123, there will be a special screening of the movie at the Ottawa conference this week:

Patient Agenda
September 22, 2011
AGENDA
5:30 pm 7:00 pm
Reception & Movie Debut Voices from the Shadows

Bye,
Alex

 

[Boule de feu]

I will be at the conference, but only the first day (probably half a day if i'm lucky enough to make it until noon...).
So, I will miss this screening. :-(
Will it be possible to have access to it at a later date - will we be able to purchase the DVD?

 

[Hope123]

I will be at the conference, but only the first day (probably half a day if i'm lucky enough to make it until noon...).
So, I will miss this screening. :-(
Will it be possible to have access to it at a later date - will we be able to purchase the DVD?

Yes, I missed the screening also. I had no energy to spare by the time the film was shown.

I'm bumping this up again as there is still two weeks for people to buy tickets. {Note: I have no financial interest in this film but know that certain well-received documentaries have had the power to change people's beliefs, government rviews, etc.}

I don't know if or when it will be available for DVD release but this question could be directed to the filmmakers at their website. Also, there is a possibility that the film might be shown in other cities in the future but this is just rumor for now.

 

[ukxmrv]

Hope123,

Great timing for your post.

Invest in ME have just announced 2 showing in the UK. One in London and one in Norwich.

http://www.investinme.org/Voices fromtheShadows.htm

 

[leela]

Last I checked Montoya was no longer scheduled to be there, fwiw.

 

[fla]

Some of the films from this festival including "Voices from the shadows" can be viewed for free in US & Canada from this page.

 

[Boule de feu]

Some of the films from this festival including "Voices from the shadows" can be viewed for free in US & Canada from this page.

Thank you for this, fla. I was hoping to see it but I didn't think it was going to be so soon.
I had read about all of these U.K. stories and was aware that the M.E. situation was way worse over there.
I hope the different agencies will figure it out pretty soon. Too many are too sick to wait much longer.

My heart goes to the families and victims...

 

[Nielk]

Watched "Voices from the Shadows". Very well done and very, very sad.
The struggle and pain is so well depicted. I cried watching it.

 

[LaurelW]

This movie is so sad, and infuriating. It seems like a story right out of the dark ages. This is supposed to be modern times with modern science and enlightened healthcare systems. Unbelievable.

 

[justy]

Does anyone know when we will be able to watch this in the U.K? i know invest in M.E are having two showings but im too sick to go to them and cant wait to see it.

 

[LaurelW]

You can watch it online. See post #8.

 

[leela]

Laurel, I think online viewing is still blocked in that region. For now it's just the US and Canada that can see it online, afaik.

 

[LaurelW]

Oh, oops. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[Joopiter76]

if you are in the US or Canada you can watch for free but unly until 10/30/2011:

http://mubi.com/festivals/mill-valley

if you are in another country you cant watch, sadly, I cant too.

 

[ixchelkali]

That's a shame, because it pertains particularly to people in the UK (although, obviously, we're all in this together) and it seems as though the media coverage of ME/CFS has been more tightly controlled in the UK. Maybe they're holding off until --or in hopes of-- its showing in the UK. If that's the case, I hope they'll make it available online there so that housebound patients will be able to see it.

Most of the stories and people are familiar to those who have been involved with ME/CFS for a while, but it's still hard to watch. I found the pictures and movies of the patients before they because ill especially poignant.

I'd be interested in hearing from those who have seen it, do you think it would persuade someone who was unfamiliar with ME/CFS?

 

[fla]

I wouldn't say it's a good general movie about M.E. It's specifically about the situation in the UK and how the health care system pretends it's a psychiatric illness. In Canada I've seen some doctors ignorant about M.E. but those that were informed knew it wasn't psychiatric. Someone without the time to study the science might be led to believe by this movie that the psychiatric theory still holds water since the UK pretends that it does. On the plus side the movie does show that CBT & GET make the disease progress with potentially lethal consequences.

 

[leela]

I'd be interested in hearing from those who have seen it, do you think it would persuade someone who was unfamiliar with ME/CFS?

You know, this is always a tricky one for me, whatever media I see about this illness.

Voices From the Shadows is very powerful, harrowing, and sad. It is very truthful about the reality lived by the sickest patients, and about the unspeakably awful situation in the UK.

But as for persuading the unfamiliar, it depends what your aim is. I fear that when PWTDs(people without this disease) see the patients in this movie, it could reinforce their belief that those of us who are not in that dire a state are therefore "ok" or worse, don't have it.

I had a family member with MS and his own sister was convinced "he didn't have it that bad! he was just sitting on his a** collecting a check!"
(The patient was a former police offer on full disability due to MS.) Because he wasn't dragging around in a palsied contortion, and she only saw him for a few days every three or four years, he was just "faking" or "dramatising."

I fear this effect when I see something like VFTS. I fear it from the other kind of media too--like the ones where a beautifully groomed patient strolls along with her dogs on the beach and potters around in her perfectly manicured gardens. It's the other end of a continuum--oh see, the illness isn't that bad. You're overreacting. You just need to get out more.

I thought it was an amazing film, VFTS. But my personal take on your question is, no, it's not likely to gain you any sympathy unless you are one of the very sickest patients, or you are showing it to an unusually empathetic and understanding person.