Jennifer Brea Explained
Jennifer Brea is an American documentary filmmaker and activist. Her debut feature, Unrest, premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and received the US Documentary Special Jury Award For Editing.[1] [2] Brea also co-created a virtual reality film which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.[3]
In 2012, Brea married Omar Wasow, co-founder of BlackPlanet[4] and currently an assistant professor at University of California, Berkeley. Brea was a PhD student at Harvard University when she became suddenly ill with a high fever and became bedridden. She was initially misdiagnosed with conversion disorder, but eventually was identified as having myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
In 2013, she began making a documentary film from bed about her experience.[10] [11] [12] Initially called "Canary in a Coal Mine", it raised significant production funds on Kickstarter via a campaign that mobilized the online community of many other homebound and bedbound patients and their families. Unrest premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and aired on PBS's Independent Lens on January 8, 2018.[13] [14] It was shortlisted for an Oscar for best documentary film.[15]
In 2014, The Root recognized her as one of the hundred most influential African-Americans in its Root100 list.[16] Brea was also recognized as ProHealth's "2017 ME/CFS Patient Advocate Of The Year."[17] In 2015 she co-founded #MEAction, a global network of patients living with ME.[18] [19] [20] MEAction went on to spearhead the #MillionsMissing movement, a patient-centered protest in which hundreds of empty shoes were displayed in order to represent the 25% of patients with ME who are housebound or bedbound.[21] [22] In June 2016, Brea gave a TED Talk on her experience as a person with ME.[23] [24]
References
- Web site: unrest. www.sundance.org. December 17, 2016. June 29, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170629091115/http://www.sundance.org/projects/unrest. dead.
- Web site: U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award For Editing. January 29, 2017 .
- Web site: Tribeca Film Festival.
- News: Jennifer Bréa, Omar Wasow - Weddings. September 2, 2012. The New York Times. 0362-4331. December 17, 2016.
- Web site: The New Science Of Exhaustion. www.wbur.org. February 16, 2015 . December 17, 2016.
- News: Chronic fatigue syndrome activists launch 'uprising' from their beds. Al Jazeera America Tonight. December 17, 2016.
- A New Name, and Wider Recognition, for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. February 27, 2015. The New Yorker. December 17, 2016.
- News: A Biological Basis for Chronic-Fatigue Syndrome. Romm. Cari. The Atlantic. December 17, 2016. en-US.
- Web site: Felled by 'Devastating Disease Doctors Have Never Heard of'. October 31, 2013. ABC News. December 17, 2016.
- Web site: Interview: Jennifer Brea Talks About Obstacles, Adjustments, and Inspiration. ProHealth.com. December 17, 2016. January 8, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170108063031/http://www.prohealth.com/me-cfs/library/showarticle.cfm?libid=19165. dead.
- Web site: Felled by 'Devastating Disease Doctors Have Never Heard of'. October 31, 2013. ABC News. December 17, 2016.
- News: Chronic fatigue syndrome activists launch 'uprising' from their beds. December 17, 2016.
- News: Sundance prize-winning doc 'Unrest' gets UK release. Grater. Tom. August 25, 2017. ScreenDaily. January 17, 2018. en-US.
- News: PBS' Independent Lens Announces Season 16 Slate (EXCLUSIVE). Morfoot. Addie. June 22, 2017. Variety. January 8, 2017. en-US.
- News: Oscars: Documentary Feature Shortlist Cuts Field To 15. Pedersen. Erik. December 8, 2017. Deadline. December 11, 2017. en-US.
- News: The Root 100 – 2014. January 1, 2014. The Root. January 18, 2017. en-US.
- News: Verrillo. Erica. ProHealth Is Proud To Announce Its 2017 ME/CFS Patient Advocate Of The Year: Jennifer Brea. March 12, 2018. ProHealth. March 5, 2018. March 12, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180312083823/https://www.prohealth.com/library/prohealth-is-proud-to-announce-its-2017-advocate-of-the-year-jennifer-brea-43998. dead.
- News: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Protests Tuesday. September 27, 2016. National Pain Report. en-US. December 17, 2016.
- Web site: The Beachwood Reporter - Chicago Residents To Protest Lack Of Support For Those Suffering With Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. www.beachwoodreporter.com. September 26, 2016. December 17, 2016. January 19, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170119054643/http://www.beachwoodreporter.com/politics/hicago_residents_protest_lack.php. dead.
- Web site: Severe ME left me in a world of pain and darkness. 26 years on, why is it still so poorly understood?. December 19, 2016. openDemocracy. en. January 18, 2017. January 14, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170114111431/https://www.opendemocracy.net/naomi-whittingham/severe-me-left-me-in-world-of-pain-and-darkness-26-years-on-why-is-it-still-poorly-understood. dead.
- Pendergrast. Tricia. Brown. Abigail. Sunnquist. Madison. Jantke. Rachel. Newton. Julia L.. Strand. Elin Bolle. Jason. Leonard A.. December 1, 2016. Housebound versus nonhousebound patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome. Chronic Illness. 12. 4. 292–307. 10.1177/1742395316644770. 1745-9206. 27127189. 5464362.
- News: "Protesters Demand Increased Funding or ME/CFS Research". U.S. News & World Report.
- News: The story and stigma of a baffling illness: Jen Brea speaks at TEDSummit. June 27, 2016. TED Blog. en-US. December 17, 2016.
- News: "Jennifer Brea: What happens when you have a disease doctors can't diagnose".
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