Three Sisters Searching for a Cure
New York Premiere

Three Sisters Searching for a Cure

| USA | 40 MINUTES | English
In 1997, Jenifer Estess was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Joseph Lovett's moving film charts Jenifer's physical deterioration, but also follows the progress she and her two sisters make in understanding and combating this devastating disease. One of the things they learn early on is that little is known about ALS or its causes, and that no one is close to finding a cure. Jenifer and her sisters do not give up hope; instead they found Project ALS, which thanks to their fundraising prowess raises $17 million to help in the search for a cure. (Jenifer had founded Naked Angels, a theater group that counted Marisa Tomei and Matthew Broderick among its founding members; it is through her connections, and those of her sisters and friends, that she was able to pull off such an amazing feat.) Jenifer becomes a spokesperson for stem cell research and other means of finding a cure for ALS, along with related diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Together, the sisters seem able to move mountains, and although Jenifer died in 2003, her dedication to eradicating ALS has gotten us much closer to finding a cure. Jenifer Estess' memoir of her struggle with ALS and on behalf of a cure will be published later this year.

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