Rating: NR
Genres: Health & Fitness Culture & Society
Release Date: 05/25/2004
SubTitles: English
Dubbed: English
Distributor/Studio: Zeitgeist Films

Kim A. Snyder was working on Jodie Foster's Home for the Holidays when she was struck with a painful and debilitating illness. Snyder eventually learned that she had what has come to be known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. As Snyder began to recover, she was inspired to make this documentary, I Remember Me, which encompasses her own experience with CFS, the experiences of others, the unexamined history of the condition, and the bewilderingly dismissive response of the medical community. Snyder begins by looking at the first recorded outbreak of the illness, which took place in Lake Tahoe, NV, in the mid-'80s. She shows brief interviews with people from the area, including sufferers (some of whom have still not recovered), local doctors, and public relations-types who are eager to dismiss the condition as hypochondria -- to downplay its seriousness in order to alleviate fears and protect the reputation of their resort town. Snyder exposes the CDC's failure to investigate the syndrome thoroughly. The CDC came up with the name "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome," naming a complex and serious condition after one of its symptoms, which one sufferer complains is akin to calling tuberculosis "Coughing Disease." Snyder also investigates earlier, unrecognized outbreaks from around the world, including one epidemic in Florida which occurred decades ago. Snyder tracks down survivors and doctors from this outbreak and interviews them about their experience. The heart of Snyder's documentary is her in-depth interviews with sufferers of CFS -- including filmmaker Blake Edwards (The Pink Panther), Olympic gold medallist soccer star Michelle Akers, and a young man named Steven -- bedridden for two years because of the illness -- who Snyder captures attending his high school graduation.

~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

I Remember Me is an inquisitive and touching documentary about the mysterious illness known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Director Kim Snyder has battled the condition herself, so this is a deeply personal film. Snyder articulately and movingly describes her own suffering with the syndrome, including a relapse that struck her during the production of this documentary. She also unearths a wealth of little-known information about the illness, tracking down clusters of outbreaks that occurred around the country, and as long ago as the 1930s. She even gathers together a group of women who were afflicted with undiagnosed cases of CFS during an outbreak in Florida that occurred decades ago. The medical community was unable then to come to grips with the complexity of the condition, and the film offers ample evidence that things have not improved in that regard. Snyder makes a damning case that, unable to pinpoint the cause of the illness, the Centers for Disease Control has treated it dismissively. The embarrassment and anger the victims feel at being dismissed as hypochondriacs by the ignorant and uncaring is fully explored in the film. Some have suffered with the debilitating illness for years, and can only wait, as Snyder herself did, for the symptoms to ease, so they can try to return to their lives. Snyder uncovers a wealth of information about CFS, and interviews a broad spectrum of advocates and medical professionals, but the film offers no answers. Empathetic viewers will share her frustration. Hopefully, this will spur a more serious and concentrated inquiry into the illness, which afflicts over half a million people. Technically and aesthetically, the film is merely adequate, but Snyder has produced a passionate documentary which should go a long way toward educating audiences.

~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

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Cast:
Michelle Akers