Brainstorm (2017)

Emmy Award-winning journalist Stacia Kalinoski confronts her epilepsy after losing her career to a seizure. As she seeks treatment including brain surgery, she documents her journey as a way to raise awareness about the brain disorder that affects over 3 million people in the United States alone. BRAINSTORM aims to reduce the stigma by showing how three people with very different epilepsy types battle seizures to live their lives to the fullest. The film explores the devastating effects seizures have on memory, why some with epilepsy deny their condition, and treatment options like surgery. A wide range of seizures are shown, and leading epileptologists explain how a normal functioning brain can suddenly flip a switch and produce strange behaviors that someone has no control over. BRAINSTORM won the Award of Excellence at the Docs Without Borders Film Festival, an Impact DOCS Award, and was nominated for a regional Emmy Award. "Highly Recommended!" - Library Journal "Our students enthusiastically expressed their gratitude and indicated that this was among the most valuable single experiences in their medical education to date." - University of Minnesota Medical School, Department of Neurology