Jennifer Brea is an American documentary

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

and

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

. Her debut feature, '' Unrest'', premiered at the

2017 Sundance Film Festival The 2017 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to January 29, 2017. The first lineup of competition films was announced November 30, 2016. Awards The following awards were presented: * Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic – '' I Don't Feel ...

and received the US Documentary Special Jury Award For Editing. Brea also co-created a virtual reality film which premiered at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

. In 2012, Brea married

Omar Wasow Omar Tomas Wasow (born December 22, 1970) is an assistant professor in UC Berkeley’s Department of Political Science. He is co-founder of the social networking website BlackPlanet. Life Wasow grew up in a multi-ethnic family. His father, Berna ...

, co-founder of BlackPlanet and currently an assistant professor at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. Brea was a PhD student at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

when she became suddenly ill with a high fever and became bedridden. She was initially misdiagnosed with

conversion disorder Conversion disorder (CD) was a formerly diagnosed psychiatric disorder characterized by abnormal sensory experiences and movement problems during periods of high psychological stress. Individuals diagnosed with CD presented with highly distressin ...

, but eventually was identified as having myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). In 2013, she began making a documentary film from bed about her experience. Initially called "Canary in a Coal Mine", it raised significant production funds on

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

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. It was shortlisted for an Oscar for best documentary film. In 2014, The Root recognized her as one of the hundred most influential African-Americans in its Root100 list. Brea was also recognized as ProHealth's "2017 ME/CFS Patient Advocate Of The Year." In 2015 she co-founded #MEAction, a global network of patients living with ME. 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. In June 2016, Brea gave a

TED Talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

on her experience as a person with ME.

References

External links

Official website
*
TED Talk

Unrest documentary website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brea, Jennifer Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American documentary filmmakers American health activists People with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome Harvard University alumni ME/CFS activists