Sundance: Medical Mystery Doc 'Unrest' Nabbed by PBS (Exclusive)

The film, which will air on the network's 'Independent Lens' series, chronicles director Jennifer Brea's battle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

The medical mystery documentary Unrest has been solved by PBS. The network has acquired U.S. broadcast rights for its Emmy Award-winning series Independent Lens.

The series will broadcast the film during the first quarter of 2018, following a national theatrical release.

“Since I first picked up my camera and began documenting the unseen world of homebound patients, it's been my dream to share the story of my community with a public audience,” director Jennifer Brea said Tuesday in a statement. “I am so thrilled and humbled to bring Unrest to Independent Lens and have it reach the widest audience possible.”

Brea was a Harvard PhD candidate when she came down with a mysterious illness known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Along with her husband, Omar, she fights the stigma that surrounds her illness and slowly builds a community of people who are similarly ill.

Brea produced the doc along with Lindsey Dryden and Patricia E. Gillespie. Deborah Hoffmann, Ruth Ann Harnisch, Regina K. Scully, Lisa Gunn, Donna Fairman Wilson, Dan Cogan, Ian Darling and Lynda Weinman executive produced.

Unrest premiered in Sundance's U.S. Documentary Competition and won the festival's Special Jury editing award.

The deal for the film was negotiated by Lois Vossen for Independent Lens. Submarine's Matt Burke repped the filmmakers, alongside Preferred Content's Abby Davis and Kevin Iwashina. An SVOD rights deal is still in the works.

The next stop for Brea and Unrest is the South by Southwest Film Festival in March.