Below the Belt: a Social Justice Documentary

Doors open at 3:30pm

4pm opening reception, with vendors and refreshments

4:30pm Film viewing

5:30pm Panel discussion with audience Q&A

This is a free event. Please RSVP for capacity. Purchasing a ticket to donate is optional, but donations are appreciated to offset our costs and to ensure we can continue offering this important work.

The Fallser Club is thrilled to host a screening of the groundbreaking PBS documentary Below the Belt. Through the personal & inspiring stories of four patients urgently searching for answers to mysterious symptoms, the film exposes widespread problems in our healthcare systems. From societal taboos and gender bias to misinformed doctors and profit-driven healthcare, the film reveals how millions are effectively silenced and how, by fighting back, they can improve healthcare for all people. In addition to screening the film, we will have an opening reception with artists, vendors, and refreshments, as well as a panel featuring experts and special guests who will discuss the urgent issues presented by the film. The event will be a wonderful community-filled evening and will open the door to understanding an extremely common disease that has been essentially pushed under the rug. Help us to spread the word and join us to learn how you can create positive change for the lives of girls and women everywhere.

In the personal & inspiring stories of four patients urgently searching for answers to mysterious symptoms, Below the Belt exposes widespread problems in our healthcare systems. Through the lens of endometriosis, a disease that affects 1 in 9 women, the film shows how women are often dismissed, discounted & disbelieved. From societal taboos and gender bias to misinformed doctors and profit-driven healthcare, the film reveals how millions are effectively silenced and how, by fighting back, they can improve healthcare for everyone.

Additonally, we will have resources available that address other complications related to Endo. Recent research indicates that patients with endometriosis have a significantly greater risk for long-COVID. Free masks, test kits, and sanitizers will be available, plus information on how to be your own health advocate when suffering chronic conditions like long-COVID and endometriosis. Community wellness experts on-hand with additional resources, services, and assistance navigating Philadelphia’s healthcare systems.  Boost Truth, a public service campaign to amplify COVID facts will be in attendance to share information about prevention, and treatment through partners in WHYY’s News and Information Community Exchange program.

Film Trailer

Jenneh Rishe is a registered nurse, author and founder of The Endometriosis Coalition. Her first book, Part of You, Not All of You, was released in 2022 to rave reviews.

Emily Manwaring is an events coordinator, videographer and endometriosis activist. She is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Kyung Jeon-Miranda is a Brooklyn-based visual artist, designer at Somos Arte and director of La Borinqueña Grants Program.

Laura Cone is a Canadian early childhood consultant, therapist and endometriosis advocate.

From the director, Shannon Cohn

When I was 16, I first had symptoms of endometriosis – pain, GI symptoms, and fatigue. I went to my pediatrician who told me in successive visits that the symptoms were part of being a woman, that I needed to suck it up and that maybe I was trying to get a little attention? Years passed and I navigated demanding university, law school and work schedules while continuing to search for answers to my worsening symptoms. I began the carousel of specialists, tests, medications and procedures that millions of people endure in pursuit of an answer. I learned that endometriosis is a disease that no one has really heard of, read about, or seen films made about, even though it is an extremely common condition. It’s a story that’s been flying under the radar for decades, while devastating countless lives. Yet, if you go online you will meet hundreds of people, all over the world, living the same experience. Many are isolated, without effective treatment or care, and often disbelieved. There is this deep social justice issue at the heart of it. An entire community has been virtually ignored by medicine. So I decided to make films. First, Endo What?, an educational film to provide an accurate base of knowledge, followed by Below the Belt, a social justice film. The films have been a saga from the very beginning, when it was just me, my camera and a certainty that this story must be told. As we started shooting, and I started down the minefield that is endometriosis, the films became about some of those burning questions that I had. How can a menstrual taboo still be so pervasive globally in the 21st century? Why are women still relegated to an average 10 year delay to diagnosis? Why don’t doctors believe their pain? How does the pervasiveness of commercial-driven interests effectively write the treatment protocols that so many patients follow? And, importantly, what can be done about it? It’s my hope that in sharing the stories of these people that I have come to profoundly love, that we can build a movement to transform the lives of patients with endometriosis; lift the veil on the unjustness they experience, accelerate the search for a cure; and bring a greater level of compassion, awareness, and empathy to millions upon millions of patients and their loved ones wrestling with endometriosis, chronic illness or invisible disabilities. FROM DIRECTOR SHANNON COHN I hope that you use this film as a catalyzing tool for change in your community so that those around you may better understand this devastating disease.

Much love & gratitude, Shannon

Parking in East Falls is no problem! There is ample free on-street parking near the East Falls train station driveway at 3610 Midvale Ave and a paid municipal lot three blocks away at 4100 Ridge Ave. Midvale Ave and Ridge Ave are both well-lit!

This is a free event. Please RSVP for capacity. Purchasing a ticket to donate is optional, but donations are appreciated to offset our costs and to ensure we can continue offering this important work.