Filmmaker Jennifer Brea was a Harvard PhD student soon to be engaged when she was struck down by a mysterious fever that left her bedridden. As her illness progressed she lost even the ability to sit in a wheelchair, yet doctors insisted it was “all in her head.” Unable to convey the seriousness and depth of her symptoms to her doctor, Jennifer began a video diary on her phone that eventually became the powerful and intimate documentary, Unrest. Once Jennifer was diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), commonly known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), she and her new husband, Omar, were left to grapple with how to shape a future together in the face of a lifelong illness.
Refusing to accept the limitations of life in bed, Jennifer embarks on an online voyage around the world where she finds a hidden community of millions who have disappeared from their own lives, confined to their homes and bedrooms by ME. Using the internet, Skype, and Facebook, these disparate people connect with each other, finding a much-needed sanctuary of support and understanding.
At its core, Unrest is a love story. Though Jennifer and Omar may never live the life they originally dreamed about, together they find resilience, strength, and meaning in each other and their new-found community.
The Filmmaker
Jennifer Brea is an independent documentary filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She has a Bachelor of Arts 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 feature documentary, Unrest, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, where it won a Special Jury Prize. She is also co-creator of Unrest VR, winner of the Sheffield Doc/Fest Alternate Realities Award. An activist for invisible disabilities and chronic illness, she co-founded a global advocacy network, #MEAction, and is a TED Talker.
Associate Producers
Blake Ashman
Sophia Kruz
Emma D. Miller
Field Producer
Kat Mansoor
Associate Field Producer
Adam Drosin
Kyle Porter
Assistant Field Producer
Jess Burgess
Additional Cinematography
Laura Bellingham
Nicholas Berger
Danielle Bernstein
Jennifer Brea
Dan Brohawn
Shane Collins
Emma Critchley
Sara Deane
Ryan DeFranco
Jennifer Fearnley
Patricia E. Gillespie
Tom Goudsmit
Zachary Halberd
Laela Kilbourn
Stephan Knuesel
Adam Kolodny
Dan Krauss
Megan Mancini
Bobby Moser
Susanne Salavati
Emilia Sauaia
Nazare Soares
Archival Consultant
Amy Brown
Archival Researchers
Samantha Kerzner
Susan Ricketts
Researcher
Jaime Seltzer
First Assistant Editor
Delaney Lynch
Assistant Editors
Benjamin Abrams
Elizabeth Phillips
Mary Stafford
Sally Volkmann
Mallory Yarnall
Additional Editors
Jennifer Brea
Tina Grapenthin
Production Sound Mixers
Nikky French
Kyle Porter
Additional Sound
Randy Dzielak
Brian Flood
Emily Fraser
Lauretta Molitor
Patrick Shaffer
Patrick Southern
Assistants to Jennifer Brea
Jennifer Allen
Amanda Folden
Krista Abela
Post-Production Coordinator
Omar Haq
Translations
Hanne Arnold
Eva Greene
Sarah Johansen
Matthaeus Szumanski
Additional Mixing by
Ryan Sanchez
Laurence Schwarz
Recording Engineers
Ryan Sanchez
Laurence Schwarz
Ryan Walsh
Music Editor
Denise Slenski
Scoring Manager
Joanna Pane
Scoring Coordinator
Kaiyun Wong
Additional Music by
Jason Akers
Omer Ben-Zvi
Scoring Assistants
Jonathan Chau
Sam Ewing
Andrew Harris
David Matics
Assistant to the Composer
John Grannan
Music Consultants
Edward Trybeck
Henri Wilkinson
Music Clearance
Matt Lilley
Audio Post-Production
Berkeley Sound Artists
Post-Production Sound Facilities
Bad Robot
Graphics by
Syd Garon
Christopher Kirk
San Charoenchai
Ana Gomez Bernaus
Andrew Hoeveler
Paul Griswold
Additional Graphic Design by
Jessica Dillon
Colorist
Andrew Balis
Online Editor
Harry Locke, IV
Digital Intermediate Producer
Matt Radecki
Post-Production Services by
Different By Design
Production Legal Services Provided by
Justine Jacobs
Filmed on Location at
Burrswood Hospital
Nova Southeastern University
Stanford University
Music
"Duke of Earl"
Written by Eugene Dixon, Earl Edwards and Bernice Williams
Performed by Gene Chandler
Courtesy of Vee Jay Records
Used by permission of Concord Music Group, Inc.
“Love Came Here”
Written and Performed by Lhasa De Sela
Courtesy of Audiogram
"Patience"
Written and Performed by Ren Gill
Courtesy of Ren Gill
Archival Material Courtesy of
Seiji Arihara
Jennifer Brea
Robbins Barstow
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
DVArchive
FILM Archives, Inc.
Ren Gill
Image Bank Film/Getty Images
Kinolibrary
Viveka Jagadeesan
Japan ME Association
Kate Jones
Jonas Koch
Vanessa Li
Pond5
Matt Remes
Mieko Shinohara
Serena Thomson
tunart/Getty Images
U.S. National Library of Medicine
Video 77 Limited
Adam Weisman
Ben White/Los Angeles Public Library
Wellcome Library
Yale University, Harvey Cushing / John Hay Whitney Medical Library (A La Salpetriere)
Additional Material Provided by
Arizona Republic
Armstrong & Getty Show
British Medical Journal
CBS News
Cincinnati Enquirer
CNN
"Fame" by Ricky Gervais
Fox News
Herald-Examiner Collection (Photo by Ben White)
ITN
Larry King Live/CNN
Long Beach Independent
NBC News
Neurology
New York Times
North American Newspaper Alliance
Primetime Live/ABC
Rainbowfish
Reno Evening Gazette
Sky News Arabia
TedxBoston
The Canberra Times
The Cumberland News
The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
The Los Angeles Times
The Morning News
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Pantagraph
The Yorkshire Post
TV2
Þór Magnússon (Photo by Sigfús Eymundsson)
Department of Medicine, Queens University and Edward John Noble Hospital
Fiscal Sponsor
Utah Film Center
Women Make Movies
Funding Provided by
Artemis Rising Foundation
Menaged Foundation
John A. Gunn
William F. Harnisch Foundation, Inc.
Taliaferro Family Fund
The Mara and Ricky Sandler Foundation
Donna Wilson
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
The Lagralane Group, LLC
Lisa Gunn
Kevin Frick and Michelle Thies
Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program
Michael M. Byram
Li Lu Humanitarian Foundation
Influence Film Foundation
Ruth Ann Harnisch
And others. A complete list available from PBS.
UNREST is a co-production of Shella Films and Little by Little Films, in association with Impact Partners and Chicken & Egg Pictures.
This program was produced by Canary in a Coal Mine LLC, which is solely responsible for its content.