Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, October 3:
THE SENSITIVES
Director:
Drew Xanthopoulos
Premiere:
Tribeca 2017
Select Festivals:
Camden, Newburyport Doc, New Hampshire, Santa Fe
About:
An intimate portrait of several individuals suffering from inexplicable, debilitating environmental allergies.
Over the course of several years, Xanthopoulos followed three stories about “sensitives,” people suffering from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and environment-related disabilities, perhaps best-remembered from Todd Haynes’ 1995 film SAFE, starring Julianne Moore. Here, the focus is on Joe, a husband and grandfather who wrestles with the idea of relocating to a community protected from environmental triggers; Karen and her grown twin sons Sam and Nathan, who long ago moved to the desert and depend on Karen’s elderly mother for all of their needs; and Susie, who risks her own well-being to advocate for others suffering in isolation. Focused more on humanizing the misunderstood sufferers of chemical and electrical sensitivities, often too readily dismissed as psychologically troubled, Xanthopoulos crafts a beautifully lensed, meditative film.
what (not) to doc 