Compiled by Patricia Burke of Safe Tech International, with Sean Carney (Note: UK spelling is intact)

Over the next 2 months a remarkable indie film festival makes preparations to host an array of independent, artistic, and unforgettable films. The Venus on Broadway International Film Festival (VOBIFF) is an IMDB recognised festival and in the words of its director, Kathrina Miccio, is “focused on emerging, yet overlooked filmmakers, and writers and aims to show quality film of true indie filmmakers and honor their hard work and dedication.”

VOBIFF showcases talents from around the world. Miccio is a highly regarded actress and writer from New York with Italian roots who has turned her passion for film and culture into a mission. Known for her drive and entrepreneurship she is the creative director of three film festivals, a supporter of the arts, and a survivor of breast cancer, who supports and rewards new voices in film, keeping the flame of indie film burning bright.

VOBIFF is held in the heart of New York City and has been described as a unique, glamorous and warm five-star film festival celebrating the art of indie film-making. It promises to be an amazing gathering this year. https://filmfreeway.com/thecuttingroomnycisff

In March 2024 Remembering Nearfield was selected to be included in VOBIFF. Miccio, who is also a portrait painter, underscored in an email to the film’s director, Sean Alexander Carney, a quote attributed to the Dutch Baroque Painter, Rembrandt: “A work is finished when an artist realizes his intentions.” 

The words resonate with the spirit of the film, and reminded Carney of his clear intention to put out an accessible, socially important statement that educates audiences and breaks down taboos. Through its realism and artistic stylisations the film presents a vital human story to raise awareness, and brings hope. This is achieved through Carney’s research, direction and animation, Kate Kheel’s stirring musical score, and a powerfully narrated testimony by Corriëlle van Vuuren.

You must watch Remembering Nearfield yourself to see why it could potentially be nominated for a further award and recognition in New York in coming months. By watching it you will grasp everything that was intended, for the film focuses on neglected health and disability issues requiring wider recognition, understanding and solutions. You can be part of the solution.

Remembering Nearfield has now won 13 awards, including Best Health Film, Best Film on a Disability Issue, Best Animation, and has been nominated for Best Social Justice Documentary and other categories of note.  In July 2023, Remembering Nearfield was awarded Best Health Film at the prestigious Cannes World Film Festival.

It is a film that lives up to the artists’ intentions. It is a film that cannot be ignored and continues to start conversations across the globe about Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS), a functional impairment which is affecting the global population as man-made EMF radiation intensifies around us as an unnatural abundance – in the form of a pollution that impacts some more obviously than others, as van Vuuren’s experiences confirm.

Feedback from international film festivals, theatres and platforms airing the film indicates positive enthusiasm for the film, a true story focused on a woman denied relevant health support and social equality in a world that most people assume is inclusive and protects the human rights of everyone. We see how the world has turned its back on van Vuuren’s health and security owing to the nature of her health problem.

The film provokes many questions and strikes a chord in audiences who are moved and informed as van Vuuren wrestles with a “taboo” disability that is now reported by hundreds of millions of people on our planet.

Diverse audiences spanning the globe have shown much love in bringing this timely film to the world’s attention, among them Universities, scientists, and perhaps even more importantly, the people who didn’t realise EHS even existed.

The film’s intentions are at work, for it gives a voice to the voiceless and breaks down barriers helping people from all walks of life better understand EHS and the unacceptable social consequences. It is a historical time, for this not-for-profit indie film about EHS to reach so many people and earn positive and far-reaching recognition in the span of a year.

You can add your voice and show your support too, in New York and around the world. Share the flyer, share the film and make a noise about it, on social media and beyond. With imagination and will, we can change the world. This film shows us it does indeed need changing. When we are in accord, and in the right place, magic can happen. 

New York is a magical place and it’s a great chance for Remembering Nearfield to resonate its message. It is a film well worth 9 minutes of anyone’s time, aiming to bring clarification and understanding about EHS, an important but neglected health issue of our times.

The VOBIFF event date is on May 19th, 2024. https://indiefilmonline.com/venus-on-broadway-iff

Remembering Nearfield: Synopsis

“A wife and entrepreneur devoted to her family and business tragically loses everything as her health mysteriously declines. Why is she now left alone and unable to function in society? All is revealed through a series of startling events and a final, uncomfortable diagnosis. 

She’s like anyone we know – for she too had believed that man-made electromagnetic fields (EMFs) from wireless and electrical sources could never impact her health. However, after many years of misdiagnosis the reality of her health condition becomes inescapable: the radiation from man-made EMFs is causing it. 

She has a disability issue acknowledged by scientists for over century but today it seems “taboo” and still isn’t highlighted in a global health policy. There are consequences. The weight of the stigma attached to her diagnosis is as shocking as the increasing reports of this disability across the globe, by hundreds of millions of people. 

As there is no acceptance or help from society she must manage her disability alone, marginalised, misunderstood, and ever vulnerable to man-made EMF radiation exposure. We glimpse the social exclusion, the deep anxieties, and the restrictions on her life that fuel her inspiring search for remedy. We become absorbed in her world.

Why does this revealing true story need to be told? Because people with this disability, called Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS), are experiencing a shocking degree of discrimination and social isolation that no disabled person should bear. No-one should face stigmatisation or social exclusion because of the nature of their disability issues. 

Remembering Nearfield opens our eyes to the extraordinary experiences of a woman whose life becomes transformed by electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS). The health diversity and human rights issues come vividly into focus through her powerfully narrated testimony which dissolves taboos, offers hope, and highlights solutions. This is an awareness-raising animated documentary that seeks to educate and encourage understanding, promoting a more inclusive society that recognises and accommodates EHS.”

Sean Carney: Why A Film About EHS?

Carney believes animation “can be a profound social game-changer, powerful enough in some cases to dissolve taboos and start important conversations.” He adds, “We need to transcend unhelpful taboos relating to EMF harm to see EHS for what it is – a real problem affecting real people in the real world.” Carney hopes his film will put this often-neglected disability forefront in the minds of his audience.

EHS is estimated to afflict 26.5 million Europeans alone restricting access to employment and necessitating social withdrawal to avoid exposure. Remembering Nearfield’s narrator, Corriëlle van Vuuren, delivers an eye-opening chronicle of her own journey into unexpected ill-health with an eventual diagnosis of EHS. Carney preserves and enhances her raw statement with brilliantly poignant animation.

This film was made because education matters. Internationally acclaimed neuroscientist Professor Olle Johansson formerly of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, had this to say: “For an academic scientist like myself, it is always very impressive to see skilled movie makers, artists, and performers, summarize in less than 10 minutes a staggering 45 years of research!”

Carney hopes his film will “speak for itself” and start an urgent global conversation about EHS. Your valued support of the film is most welcome. You are invited to generate positive publicity and begin conversations that will catalyse understanding, tolerance, and inclusivity as we work together to bring clarity and solutions to bear on the issue of EHS.

In her film review, Karen Churchill of Safe Tech International noted:

“A bee, the symbol of our dependence on and interconnection with the natural world, concludes the story as the insect’s buzz morphs into the now familiar audio interference sound and serves as a transition to the closing section.

As food for thought, we read the words of Social Theorist Paul Virilio:

“When you invent the ship, you also invent the shipwreck; when you invent the plane you also invent the plane crash; and when you invent electricity, you invent electrocution… Every technology carries its own negativity, which is invented at the same time as technical progress.”

Share the Wisdom, Spread the Love

Watch the Cinematic Trailer: https://vimeo.com/811123928

Watch Remembering Nearfield here: https://vimeo.com/810958040

Official Film Information Website: https://express.adobe.com/page/POYG80KaKi8mi/

Film Reviews by Karen Churchill of Safe Tech International and Professor Olle Johansson: https://safetechinternational.org/review-of-remembering-nearfield/

Film Gives Voice To Electromagnetic Radiation Disability https://ehtrust.org/film-gives-voice-to-electromagnetic-radiation-disability/

Remembering Nearfield, Film On Electromagnetic Radiation, Awarded Best Health Film At Cannes World Film Festival  https://ehtrust.org/remembering-nearfield-film-on-electromagnetic-radiation-awarded-best-health-film-at-cannes-world-film-festival/

The Festival: https://filmfreeway.com/VenusItalianInternationalFilmFestival 5 Years Running, 500 Estimated Submissions, 75 Projects Selected, 40 Awards Given

Post comments in support of the film here https://www.facebook.com/VOBINYC/ and here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0584031/bio/

Ticket Information: