The list will be completed. If you can think of a suitable film, please let us know.

50/50

A young author, Adam, who designs radio shows, learns that he has a rare form of spinal cancer. He is shown receiving help from his best friend, his mother and a therapist. The film makes you laugh and touches you at the same time. It is based on a true story.

Five Feet Apart (Three Steps to You)

Stella and Will both suffer from cystic fibrosis. This film is especially touching in times of corona, because as a cystic fibrosis patient you have to keep your distance - permanently. And it is also about how important it is to be able to hug someone, touch someone have contact with someone - for everyone.

Steel Magnolias (Magnolias of steel - The strength of women)

I found this movie by accident because I was looking for something about magnolias. Thanks to Google!

This one is a little older (1989). It tells the story of a close-knit group of women in America's South, and the impact of type 1 diabetes on their friendship. The truth was also the storyteller here: the scriptwriter's sister died in 1985 from the complications of type 1 diabetes.

When Marnie was there

If you're a fan of anime, I can recommend "When Marnie was there". It tells the story of an introverted girl The adopted girl has to move to the country to recuperate. Her foster mother is terribly worried when Anna presses her drawing pad to her chest and has a fit. She has asthma. She remains an outsider in the village until she meets Marnie.

Cake

The film "Cake" is a US-American film drama from 2014, starring Jennifer Anniston, who very convincingly shows a life with chronic pain after an accident. It was shown last year in autumn by ARD at five past midnight (!!).

Residual

In my post "Lockdown was that something new?" I refer to a talk by Jennifer Brea, who suffers from ME/CFS. In this film she tells in an intimate and credible way how she deals with doctors and how she has found a "community" (group of affected people).

Gaga: Five Foot Two

Since I already described Lady Gaga as a prominent person affected by the disease, this film had to be included as well. Here she shows how she is plagued by pain, but then she asks you to turn off the camera. It's also about what it means to be famous. No film for everyone. I find it worth seeing.

The best comes last

The main actors are Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, who also suffers from fibromyalgia. Both are in the same hospital room and suffer from cancer. Together they work through a "spoon list" and get to know and understand each other and their wishes better.

Videos and Trailers

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A question I've been asked many times: "What do you do all day?" The subtext seems to be, "You must be sitting on the couch all day while I'm working, so  you're lazy."

Navigating a chronic disease is a lot of work; and if you have serveral chronic diseases it is more work.

12 spoons! https://shamethepain.de/den-schmerz-besiegen/-- Doctor's visits, treatment appointments, your own treatment routines and much more. It often starts, as I said, when getting up and continues when getting dressed. I can't just walk out of the house, I have to plan: What do I need? Where can I go to the toilet? Where do I go? How can I allow for pauses? How can I organize somethign for lunch or dinner today? All this requires precise precautions and planning, which sometimes get thrown out of kilter. I confess that part of the motivation for starting a support group was that I was doing something visible. But unfortunately it became too much.

Stop! I just turned down a lane where I didn't want to go.

It´s ok for us to watch a film on the couch without being considered lazy.  Sometimes you want to watch something that has nothing to do with illness. T0 escape to another world. But it can also do you good if the film succeeds in portraying the way chronic diseases are dealt with. Be it a feature film or a documentary. When you see on the screen how someone struggles with exactly the same situations and symptoms as you do, then you feel legitimized (It's bad enough that we sometimes need that!) If the film is about other diseases, you become sensitized to them. That can only be good.

The other day I read somewhere that you shouldn't read so many guidebooks, but rather novels to learn how to live. Life writes stories. That also applies to the cinematic representation of stories.

Here is a selection of films chosen by chronically ill people, including myself, because they depict life and the hurdles you have to overcome with disease.

So, when the time is right: Get comfortable on the couch, nibble on something (preferably vegetables or fruit) and watch a movie!

Videos & Trailers

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When you click on the video, Youtube [Google Ireland Limited, Ireland], which is jointly responsible with us, plays the video, loads scripts on your end device, stores cookies and collects personal data. This enables Google to track activities on the Internet and to display advertising in a target-group-specific manner. There is a data transfer to the USA, which does not have EU-compliant data protection. You can find further information here.

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When you click on the video, Youtube [Google Ireland Limited, Ireland], which is jointly responsible with us, plays the video, loads scripts on your end device, stores cookies and collects personal data. This enables Google to track activities on the Internet and to display advertising in a target-group-specific manner. There is a data transfer to the USA, which does not have EU-compliant data protection. You can find further information here.

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When you click on the video, Youtube [Google Ireland Limited, Ireland], which is jointly responsible with us, plays the video, loads scripts on your end device, stores cookies and collects personal data. This enables Google to track activities on the Internet and to display advertising in a target-group-specific manner. There is a data transfer to the USA, which does not have EU-compliant data protection. You can find further information here.

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Films

Feature films and documentaries depicting chronic diseases

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Pictures:

Cinema photo by Gwen Ong on Unsplash

Clapper Boardphoto byJacob OwensonUnsplash

Film camera photo by Jeremy Yap on Unsplash