''I Remember Me'' (2000) is a biographical
documentary about
chronic fatigue syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS, is a complex, debilitating, long-term medical condition. The causes and mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood. Distinguishing core symptoms are ...
, filmed in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
by
Kim A. Snyder. The film attempts to show just how devastating the illness can be to afflicted persons.
Snyder's travels are chronicled for four years as she tries to find answers about the mysterious illness with which she was diagnosed. The motivation for Snyder was her fluctuating partial improvements followed by relapses of debilitating symptoms she experienced. Snyder was given many contradictory diagnoses for her symptoms along with various drugs that were of no help to her.
The movie explains that there are medical experts who refuse to believe the illness exists, and among those that do, no one knows what causes it, how a person acquires it, or how it may be cured.
Snyder's movie researches the history of the disease which takes her to Florida where a cluster outbreak occurred in 1956, and to Lake Tahoe Nevada where many people became ill in the mid-1980s. The Florida victims were women who were "described in a medical journal as having ''
hysterical paralysis.''" She interviewed several of the women who became ill and later recovered. A group still meets to discuss their experiences with the illness. The Nevada group was a severe outbreak and Snyder interviewed treating doctor
Daniel Peterson along with several of his patients. Peterson describes how the
Centers for Disease Control
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...
investigated, but he does not believe that they intended to take the illness seriously. Peterson takes the illness very seriously, and seven of his patients have died by suicide.
Several other notable individuals with Chronic fatigue syndrome are interviewed, and they clearly express their lengthy "excruciating misery" in battling the illness. The interviews included movie director
Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards (born William Blake Crump; July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor.
Edwards began his career in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon began writing screenplays and radio s ...
, United States Olympic soccer gold medalist
Michelle Akers
Michelle Anne Akers (formerly Akers-Stahl; born February 1, 1966) is an American former soccer player who starred in the 1991 and 1999 Women's World Cup and 1996 Olympics victories by the United States. At the 1991 World Cup, she won the Golde ...
, and a high school senior in Connecticut, bedridden for two years who is transported by ambulance to his high school graduation.
Snyder thoroughly investigates the illness, but by the end of the movie few of the answers she sought at the beginning of her quest have been found.
Snyder is a
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
-based filmmaker who has worked widely on not-for-profit projects in the film world. Kim was struck down with CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome) in the mid-1990s while working as an assistant producer with
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the ho ...
on
Home For the Holidays.
[
]
Cast
Listed by the Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
:Michelle Akers
Michelle Anne Akers (formerly Akers-Stahl; born February 1, 1966) is an American former soccer player who starred in the 1991 and 1999 Women's World Cup and 1996 Olympics victories by the United States. At the 1991 World Cup, she won the Golde ...
... Herself
*Jan Armstrong ... Himself - local pastor, Truckee / Tahoe, NV
*Faye Austin ... Herself - patient, Punta Gorda, FL
*Gussie Baker ... Herself - patient, Punta Gorda, FL
* David Bell M.D. ... Himself - physician, Lyndonville, NY
*Kelly Blank ... Herself - relative of a patient
*Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards (born William Blake Crump; July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor.
Edwards began his career in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon began writing screenplays and radio s ...
... Himself - patient
*D.A. Henderson M.D. ... Himself - researcher, Johns Hopkins
*David Hyde M.D. ... Himself - physician
*Jay Levy M.D. ... Himself - immunologist
*Frances Malone ... Herself - patient, Punta Gorda, FL
*Peter Manu M.D. ... Himself - psychiatrist
*Pat McCloud ... Herself - a patient
*Martha McCormick ... Herself - patient, Punta Gorda, FL
*Stephen Paganetti ... Himself - patient, Durham, CT
*Heidi Pask ... Herself - patient at age 12
*Daniel Peterson M.D. ... Himself - physician, Tahoe, NV
*Jean Pollard ... Herself - mother of a patient, Lyndonville, NY
*William Reeves M.D. ... Himself - CDC researcher
*Peter Rowe M.D. ... Himself - researcher at Johns Hopkins
*Robert Shedd M.D. ... Himself - Florida physician
*Alexis Shelakov M.D. ... Himself - researcher, Salk Institute
*Dan Steinmeyer ... Himself - former spokesperson, Incline Village
*Maryan Wiedenfeld ... Herself - sister of a patient
*Leo Wotitzky ... Himself - husband of a patient
Awards
* WINNER, BEST DOCUMENTARY STARZ PEOPLES’ CHOICE AWARD, 2000, DENVER FILM FESTIVAL[
*FIRST RUNNER UP, AUDIENCE AWARD BEST FEATURE, 2001, SARASOTA FILM FESTIVAL][
]
See also
* List of people with chronic fatigue syndrome This is a list of notable people who have been diagnosed with or suspected to have myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).
Confirmed diagnosis
Suspected cases
See also
* List of people with long COVID
References
{ ...
References
External links
*
Roger Ebert review of ''I Remember Me'', December 7, 2001
{Dead link, date=January 2020 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
Ken Fox, TV Guide, review of ''I Remember Me''
American documentary films
Documentary films about people with disability
2000 films
2000 documentary films
Chronic fatigue syndrome
2000s American films