Title: Semicolon; The Adventures of Osotomy Girl
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Director: Robin Greenspun
Starring: Dana Marshall-Bernstein, Cari Marshall, Ed Bernstein
Runtime: 1 hr 23 mins

What It Is: Dana is a twenty-five year old woman living here, in my current home position of Las Vegas. She suffers from short gut syndrome caused by her malabsorption issues coupled with Crohn’s Disease. She has been in and out of hospitals for most of her life due to these issues. She must also rely on very different methods to attain the necessary nutrients to survive namely a TPN bag. These bags are intravenous and normally contain something beneficial to Dana’s health. These complications and  setbacks have done nothing to offset her personality which from the looks of it seems to be in great spirits.

What We Think: This is a great story. Robin Greenspun, who I had the pleasure of speaking with did a great job with the material. As I pointed out to her in the Q&A following the screening I was especially impressed by her ability to make us care about Dana, and than in that very next moment rip our heart strings out. One thing I look at as a bit of a negative is the lack of focus on her cause. It went into it a bit, but there’s no recognition for the cost of all this. No way to quantify how much something like this would run a family that wasn’t as well off. It’s well known here in Las Vegas that Dana’s father is a personal injury attorney. I think those stakes would’ve build up a tangible threat to the audience as to how costly chronic illness is.

Our Grade: B+, Greenspun did a great job, and Dana herself was an enthralling subject. One whose story is oftern untold. Thankfully we get some insight into a disorder that affects 70,000 people pls. I’m going to recommend you check this documentary out if you get the chance. If you would like to screen the film go to icarusfilms.com to schedule it.