Reviews

Here’s what others are saying about the film:


“It’s going to save lives.”
– Aurora Levins Morales


“This movie probably saved my daughters life. It helped us understand the impact of mold and to literally move into a tent the next week. Best thing we’ve ever done. Thank you!”
– L Cooper


“NCIL was so excited to be able to show Homesick at our Annual Conference. The room was packed for the screening and our attendees loved the film. The audience included people with MCS / ES and potential allies with other types of disabilities. People with environmental sensitivities are still marginalized and denied access, even in the disability community. Homesick was such a powerful way to highlight people with MCS / ES and educate potential allies about the barriers they face and how to be more inclusive and accessible.“

– Through the Disability Organization Network, Homesick will be included at the 25th ADA anniversary conference in San Francisco University of California – Hastings College of the Law School- It will be screened with Q & A after. A big deal for MCS to be included and acknowledged at a disability conference!


“Homesick..is a fascinating collection of interviews with people with MCS and tours of their homes…validating and informative”
– Barbara Morrison, Canary Times


“If it is true that people with multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) are our ‘canaries in the coal mines’, then we better start listening.

“Susan Abod’s film Homesick provides emotionally powerful insights into the everyday lives of people struggling with this disability. Traveling alongside Susan in her foil-lined green van, we visit rural homes of people with chemical sensitivities throughout the American Southwest, the last refuges of clean air for people harmed by the toxic brew of chemicals that now permeate our environment. In tents, teepees, aluminum trailers and adobe homes, individuals with MCS are struggling to rebuild their lives, regain their health, and find community amidst isolation. Against the backdrop of her beautiful jazz vocals, we witness Susan’s determination to unearth these stories and to find safe shelter for herself. It inspires us all to keep fighting.

“Homesick is a moving and cautionary story, and one highly recommended for all advocates for disability rights and environmental justice.

– Rick Glassman, Litigation Director, Disability Law Center, Boston, MA


Filmmaker Susan Abod—a professional singer forced to give up her career and dreams due to Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS)—embarks on a journey through the U.S. Southwest to talk with others who have discovered ways to cope with the disease. MCS, Abod tells us, presents as a chronic sensitivity to the toxins that are ubiquitous in our daily lives: treated carpets, paint, cleaners, pesticides, gases, and so on. Symptoms range from constant pain to fatigue, skin burns, nausea, asthma, confusion, fevers, and headaches. MCS makes it extremely difficult for people to live in ordinary homes or work in office environments, although the Southwest is a little easier on sufferers due to wider spaces and less manufacturing. Abod discovers a wide variety of ideas for building homes that largely eliminate (or at least minimize) toxins, including a house on stilts, outdoor bedrooms made of steel and screen, tents, teepees, outside kitchens, and designer homes made entirely of inert materials and heated by hot water pipes beneath floors. The film concludes with Abod’s own complicated but ultimately successful efforts to customize a home for herself. Besides learning about alternative homes, viewers are made aware of what people with MCS experience while trying to fit into the world, ranging from the skepticism of doctors to the difficulties of trying to hold a job. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)
– Video Librarian March/April 2014 (Volume 29, Issue 2) Recommended


“A must see film for those of us in the MCS community who have felt invalidated,disenfranchised and looked at askance.  An invaluable tool for professionals and the general public willing to listen and learn about the daily struggle of living with this illness.”
– Ellen Gross, LICSW, Santa Fe, NM


“Susan Abod’s film, Homesick, is thoroughly engaging and eye opening in the manner she introduces the audience to the day to day world of the chemically sensitive people whose lives have been derailed by their toxic exposures and are left struggling to find ways of surviving in the world.

“Susan is telling both her own personal story of her life shattering experience with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, while at the same time she takes us on a journey across the country to listen to the stories of others. The stories are both deeply disturbing and, at the same time, uplifting and inspiring as we witness the resilience of the human spirit. The audience gets to hear that indomitable spirit in the form of Susan’s heart-opening singing in the background.

“Homesick is an important means for bringing understanding and compassion to mainstream America and can help dispel some of the widespread ignorance about MCS.

– Erica Elliott, MD
Family Practice & Environmental Medicine, Santa Fe, New Mexico


“We are all being affected by our environment – we just don’t know it. Susan Abod chronicles her search for a safe haven for EI (environmental illness) and on her journey uncovers a hidden group with EI who are struggling to survive. The film does a great job of shedding light on an invisible illness that is mostly denied and misunderstood.”
– Dr. Jeanne T. Hubbuch, Newton, MA


“I just finished watching Homesick. It’s hard to express just how moved I am by this brilliant work. The filming, the storyline, the interviews, how it’s so well put together and edited that it belies the research, contacts, writing, editing, and whatever other talents went into making this documentary. I really appreciated the beauty and balance of before-and-after stories and pictures, the balance of rudimentary shelters and very nice MCS safer homes, the balance of suffering, relative wellness, and activism, the patients/doctors, dwellers/architect, and of course your personal storyline. So deep. Thank you and all others who contributed their stories and efforts toward making this successful. And especially for providing us with such a valuable tool that we can share with others, and by providing us a way that helps to validate us, our stories, and strength in the face of such odds.”
– Viewer


“The film was a very thoughtful look at the lives of those affected Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. I had never really understood the scope of the physical symptoms and the psychological impact of the isolation that results. I enjoyed meeting all of the characters in the film.”
– Viewer


“That’s a terrific film.  Nicely shot, gorgeous music, and the content — well, it’s extremely moving”
– Viewer


“We all watched your film tonight – finally having the time, energy and electronics to do so – and I have to say it would be impossible to take MCS lightly after that experience. Such a direct, raw view of so many brave people trying to cope with daemonic, life destroying forces leaves me with a strange mixture of despair and hope. Thanks and may it be viewed widely and often.”
– Viewer


“I don’t have the words to come close to saying how impressed I am by what you’ve done to make this issue real for people.”
– Viewer


“Making a film is hard work. Making a good film is nigh unto impossible. Making a good film about MCS when you also have MCS… is, well, virtually unimaginable. And yet Susan Abod makes it sound so easy.”
The Human Ecologist


vlmarapr14covHomesick: Living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (2013) 56 min.
Filmmaker Susan Abod—a professional singer forced to give up her career and dreams due to Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS)—embarks on a journey through the U.S. Southwest to talk with others who have discovered ways to cope with the disease. MCS, Abod tells us, presents as a chronic sensitivity to the toxins that are ubiquitous in our daily lives: treated carpets, paint, cleaners, pesticides, gases, and so on. Symptoms range from constant pain to fatigue, skin burns, nausea, asthma, confusion, fevers, and headaches. MCS makes it extremely difficult for people to live in ordinary homes or work in office environments, although the Southwest is a little easier on sufferers due to wider spaces and less manufacturing. Abod discovers a wide variety of ideas for building homes that largely eliminate (or at least minimize) toxins, including a house on stilts, outdoor bedrooms made of steel and screen, tents, teepees, outside kitchens, and designer homes made entirely of inert materials and heated by hot water pipes beneath floors. The film concludes with Abod’s own complicated but ultimately successful efforts to customize a home for herself. Besides learning about alternative homes, viewers are made aware of what people with MCS experience while trying to fit into the world, ranging from the skepticism of doctors to the difficulties of trying to hold a job. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)


Homesick is an excellent description of what it is like to have MCS and how difficult it is to find or create a place to live that does not cause sickness. The movie is a great tool to show friends, family and doctors who doubt MCS is such a big deal. It is very educational and not shrill, preachy or depressing, despite the many tough stories. – EI Wellspring
Read the full Homesick Movie Review from EI Wellspring


“I hope “Homesick” opens a floodgate of films and artwork that focus on our situation. By telling her own story and showing us what she’s seen, Abod adds viability to our subculture, even while we cope with the wreckage of our former dreams.” – by Susan Molloy, Planet Thrive
Read the full Homesick Movie Review from Planet Thrive

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