Homesick: Living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities
A new documentary about an emerging disability
Filmmaker Susan Abod started making Homesick in 1997. This 56-minute documentary follows her literal journey with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, as she goes on a road trip to find others who are coping with this disability and to discover if and how they have created safe housing.
From 1997 to 2013, Susan pushed to finish the film and connect with the disability community. Her goal is to let other’s know that they’re not alone. “Before I got sick, I was singing professionally in clubs and concerts and teaching music. Now, MCS controls where I live, what I eat, what I wear, where I go, what I buy (or, more often, what I do not buy), even whom I hug.”
Released in 2013, this increasingly relevant documentary provides a story that is needed now more than ever. Homesick documents the physical and emotional experiences of people with MCS through personal portraits, bringing a human face to an often-unseen population. This serves to lessen their isolation and increase their acceptance in their communities and even in their own families, where they are often misunderstood or disbelieved.
Susan created Homesick to reach others with this condition. When it became available in September 2013, professionals also wanted the film for educational and institutional support.
“[Homesick is] a must see film for those of us in the MCS community who have felt invalidated, disenfranchised and looked at askance,” says Eileen Gross, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “[It is] an invaluable tool for professionals and the general public willing to listen and learn about the daily struggle of living with this illness.”
Homesick: Living With Multiple Chemical Sensitivities is now available to individuals, institutions, libraries, universities, and non-profit organizations. When asked about the film, Poet and Author Aurora Levins Morales responded, “It’s going to save lives.”
In order to reach more people, the team behind Homesick are offering an affiliate program for introductions that lead to paid screenings or institutional or organizational sales. Individuals who have personal connections to libraries, universities, theaters, or organizations that might be interested in screening or purchasing the film, are being encouraged to contact Homesick’s producer.
Affiliates will be asked to make a personal introduction via email. The Homesick team will take it from there to see if there is any interest in a purchase or a screening. If there is, and a fee is made, the affiliate will receive $35 or 15% (whichever amount is higher) of this fee when the fee is paid out.
Three examples include:
1. A university library that wants to purchase the film.
2. A disability organization or a student group that will organize a film screening.
3. A small theater that is willing to screen the film for a percentage of the ticket sales.
Interested affiliates are encouraged to contact producer Basil Shadid at heart@dualpowerproductions.com.
Visit the Homesick website to watch a 2-minute trailer and learn more:
http://homesick-video.com/