“MS” Documentary Released on YouTube

“MS” is a documentary film released last year that tells the story of three patients who suffer from multiple sclerosis (MS) and how they deal with the chronic debilitating disease. The director of the film recently announced that the short documentary has been made available on YouTube in an effort to reach more people and help motivate other patients struggling with the disease.

The 20-minute documentary was filmed in Poland and both written and directed by the psychologist Ilona Bidzan. The film is focused on the stories of the painter Emilia Ratajczak, photographer Wojciech Stańko, and dancer Gabriela Zenka. Despite the different ages and stages of life, they share a disease and a desire to change their lives, fighting the difficulties that come with an MS diagnosis.

Ilona Bidzan described the film as “a story about extraordinary people and their equally outstanding paths of life. Three intimate conversations about passion, rebellion and suffering. A journey into the depths of human mind in search for an answer to a question: how important are will power and fortitude in our life? Finally, it is a documentary about three people suffering from multiple sclerosis, who decide to change their life after hearing the diagnosis and against all odds live,” she said to Multiple Sclerosis News Today.

One of the patients and main characters in the documentary, Emilia Ratajczak, explained that what unites them is that they all received a “sentence with no appeal,” but used their arts against the diagnosis that told them they were doomed. Ilona emphasized that “actually, ‘SM’ [the original title in Polish] is not a film about the illness, but about… passion. Passion, which is in fact equal to the strenuous will of life.”