Compiled by Patricia Burke of Safe Tech International with Sean Carney

(European and Canadian spelling is intact)

Human Rights and Story Telling

In the article Can films fix the global challenges of human rights? Julián Ginzo, writing for the United Nations Today quoted Laura Longobardi, “Films put a face to issues and humanize complex situations that can be hard to explain through reports and conferences. Films can be powerful tools for change [].”

The website “The power of film for storytelling, health and human rights advocacy for the Internews Health Journalism Network quoted  Deeyah Khan “What film and stories do is give us a tiny crack where we can each recognise our own humanity in someone else, in that space, we understand each other, and when we understand each other, we care. And once you do that, something better becomes possible.” Oyenchimeg  Demchigobserved “Foreign films and documentaries can fill a public interest content gap and stir conversations about issues that local media don’t touch, []. These films provide compelling stories where audiences can see similarities with their own experiences. They then can start questioning if what is happening to them is normal and often get inspired to find solutions.”

Internationally, film festival organizers and film-makers are ahead of the curve, actively breaking stereotypes and addressing discrimination, marginalization, and human rights abuses, through story-telling about the environmentally-induced condition microwave illness, also known as Electromagnetic Sensitivity.

Remembering Nearfield, Award-Winning UK Documentary Film by Sean Carney

Remembering Nearfield Documentary Film 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 – International Documentary, Director Sean Alexander Carney, Narration: Corriëlle van Vuuren Piano Music: Kate Kheel

View the 9-minute animated film here: 

Remembering Nearfield, India and Canada Award Nominations

Award-winning Remembering Nearfield has now been shortlisted in the Great Maple Screen Festival of Canada for Best Animation.  The film is also a semifinalist in the Kalaburagi International Film Festival 2024 (India) in the Short Film category.

New York City, May 19^th Nominated for Best International Animated Documentary

Its contemporary importance as a documentary has been recognised closer to home for it has been officially nominated for Best International Animated Documentary at the Venus on Broadway International Film Festival 2024.

The film festival’s screenings, red carpet event and awards ceremony will be held at the state-of-the-art venue the Secret Room in New York City May 19th. https://indiefilmonline.com/venus-on-broadway-iff 

Kate Kheel of Safe Tech International who composed and performed the piano soundtrack for the film, will be there in person representing Remembering Nearfield throughout the festivities.

The full film schedule and blocks including the trailer are listed and available here:  https://indiefilmonline.com/nominees.

Ireland: Environmental Film Festival; Award Winning Film “Freequencies” by Seventeen-Year-Old Olivia Louise Curto

Remembering Nearfield was shown on television in Belfast, Northern Ireland in December 2023 as part of the Inheritance Environmental Film Festival.

Now, another film about EMF/EHS by a 17-year-old film-maker from Ireland was recently awarded 2^nd place in the Fresh Films Ireland Festival.

The Leitram Observer reported, Leitrim’s young filmmaker remarkable achievement at Fresh Films Ireland 2024 “Fresh Films Ireland 2024 has once again captured the hearts of audiences and critics alike. Leitrim 17-year-old Olivia Louise Curto achieved an incredible feat by securing 2nd place at Fresh Films Ireland 204 with her film, ‘Freequencies’. The film masterfully explores the broader implications of our increasingly digital existence, advocating for a world where human connections transcend technological ties. The film festival, which began as a modest video competition in 1997 under the umbrella of the Limerick Film Festival, has grown exponentially over the years. Today, it stands as a crucial platform that nurtures young talent, having introduced thousands of budding filmmakers to the world stage. 

The 2024 edition of Fresh Films was particularly exhilarating. It marked a significant milestone by being broadcast live on RTE2 from 7 to 9 PM on April 29, allowing an even larger audience to partake in the celebration of young cinematic talent.

This year’s festival saw participation from over 13,648 applicants from 150 countries, illustrating its global reach and influence not only highlights her filmmaking prowess but also brings a wave of pride to Leitrim, celebrating its own on an international stage.” https://www.leitrimobserver.ie/news/home/1490156/leitrims-young-filmmaker-remarkable-achievement-at-fresh-films-ireland-2024.html

Watch the 14 ½ minute film Freequencies here:

Canada Update: May is Environmental Sensitivities Awareness/Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS/ES) Awareness

May 1 the Manitoba Legislative Building was lit yellow for the third year. Marg Friesen of the Environmental Health of Manitoba supported this endeavour. On May 12, Canada’s MCS/ES Awareness Day, the High Level Bridge in Edmonton, Alberta will be lit yellow and green for the fifth year. Environmental Health Association of Alberta also supported this effort.

Carney’s film Remembering Nearfield is nominated for Best Animation in the May 10th Great Maple Film Festival,

Watch for further outreach and advocacy concerning EHS from the international community, including Canada – where the Environmental Health Clinic (EHC), a unique multidisciplinary clinic in Ontario was established in 1996 by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to be a provincial resource in promoting environmental health and to improve health care for people with chronic complex environmentally-linked conditions such as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) and Environmental Sensitivities, including both Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (ES/MCS) and Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity. – Source: https://www.electrosensitivesociety.com/

Global EHS Day: Cœurs d’EHS June 16, 2024: World EHS Day – World Day of Intolerance to Electromagnetic Pollution

The 7th annual EHS Day is officially underway! “All over the world there are Electro Hyper Sensitive People hiding in the most remote, isolated, forgotten and desperate places.”

“On June 16th, the 7th edition of the World Day of Intolerance to Electromagnetic Pollution will take place, so renamed in order to clearly understand that electro-hypersensitive people (EHS) have become so because of an ultra-polluted environment. It is indeed important to underline that the problem comes from environmental pollution and not from a disease from which EHS suffer. When EHS sufferers spend enough time in an unpolluted environment, their health recovers by itself. To cure EHS, you don’t need medication, but a healthy environment! EHS sufferers are sentinels of human health and alerters. Listening to them is also saving oneself from the danger of this gigantic pollution that is totally ignored.

Electromagnetic pollution is not only toxic for EHS, it also weakens the immune defenses of the whole population and is a major co-factor in the triggering of various pathologies depending on the fragility of each individual. That’s why reducing electrosmog should be a priority public health objective… which it won’t be as long as the telecoms lobbies are able to make a profit by irradiating the whole planet, to the detriment of our health and biodiversity. The objective of the World EHS Day is not only to highlight the moral and physical suffering of the millions of EHS people already impacted by electromagnetic pollution but also to warn the rest of the population about a danger they are unaware of.” – http://coeursdehs.fr/june-16-world-ehs-day-world-day-of-intolerance-to-electromagnetic-pollution/

Other International Developments

In the Netherlands, EHS is officially recognized as a disability. The Dutch EHS foundation, Stichting EHS, has achieved a big success for people with EHS to be covered by the UN Convention on Disability.

A Danish housing association is now building 50 residential buildings specifically for people who are electrosensitive and chemically sensitive.

Accredited training offered to health care providers in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of EMF illnesses is now available free of charge to the general public here.

‘Safety’ Guidelines as Institutional Discrimination

Encyclopedia Britannica notes: “Discrimination- the intended or accomplished differential treatment of persons or social groups for reasons of certain generalized traits. For the most part, discrimination results in some form of harm or disadvantage to the targeted persons or groups. While intentional discrimination occurs at the level of individuals, institutional discrimination denotes explicit policies of social institutions that exclude, impede, or otherwise harm certain groups.”

Currently, international radio frequency exposure guidelines do not recognize non-thermal effects of non-ionizing radiation, with inanimate safety testing protocols based on the measurements of an adult military male, thereby actively discriminating against women and children. (See the US court ruling here regarding the FCC and children, vulnerable populations, and the environment. The FCC and industry have ignored the remand.)

The two international EMF-based films give voice to these two vulnerable populations.

The Human Rights Film Network notes, “Human rights films are films that reflect, inform on and provide understanding of human rights, and portray visions and aspirations to redress violations of these rights.”

Read More: Remembering Nearfield

Save the Date: May 19, NY ‘Venus on Broadway International Film Festival’ Includes EHS Film ‘Remembering Nearfield’ (Note that the New York City community has been actively opposing the installation of 5G monopoles – see 4,000 GIANT-SIZED 5G ANTENNAS PROPOSED FOR NEW YORK CITY – OPPOSITION GROWS and LinkNYC 5G Tower Hearing Finds Limited City Oversight of Program Administration, Demonstrates Need For Better Processes due health, environmental, and aesthetics concerns.) 

Review of Remembering Nearfield by Safe Tech International

Remembering Nearfield: A review by Karen Churchill (UK)

EHS Film “Remembering Nearfield” is Finalist: Cannes World Film Festival ”A multi-award-winning international film catalysing global awareness of electromagnetically induced harm and disability.”

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: