First Run Features Acquires ‘The Quiet Epidemic,’ Documentary About “Vicious Medical Debate” Over Chronic Lyme Disease
deadline.comEXCLUSIVE: First Run Features is promising “a robust awards campaign” for The Quiet Epidemic, after acquiring U.S.
distribution rights to the documentary about Chronic Lyme and tick-borne disease. The film directed by Lindsay Keys and Winslow Crane-Murdoch will begin a one-week Oscar-qualifying run at the IFC Center in New York on December 2, followed by a nationwide rollout in early 2023.
According to CDC figures, almost half a million Americans become infected with Lyme disease each year. Of those infected, a subset of patients will develop chronic symptoms, but according to the film, the medical community has largely been reluctant to acknowledge the reality of long-term illness from Lyme disease. “The Quiet Epidemic follows a young girl from Brooklyn and a Duke University scientist both diagnosed with a disease said to not exist: Chronic Lyme disease,” a summary of the film notes. “Their search for answers lands them in the middle of a vicious medical debate.
What begins as a patient story evolves into an investigation into the history of Lyme disease, dating back to its discovery in 1975.
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