Move over, Sundance. CG Life and its dedicated rare disease storytelling platform 24/364 are rolling out the red carpet for a film festival of its own that will specifically highlight rare diseases next year.
The inaugural 24/364 Rare Disease Film Festival (RDFF), scheduled to take place in San Diego on March 12 and 13 of next year, will champion the stories of those in the rare disease community through the power of film and storytelling. Along with a full day of screening the films at two adjacent theaters, the schedule for the event includes a panel of jury members, award presentations and other advocacy-focused programming.
“Film has an unparalleled ability to connect people through emotion, humanity, and shared experience,” said 24/364 RDFF director Jon Fitzgerald commented in a recent press release. “Our goal is to create a Festival that not only recognizes outstanding filmmaking but also sparks meaningful conversations and deeper understanding about resilience, caregiving, belonging, identity, and the realities of living with a rare disease. These are stories that deserve to be seen, heard, and celebrated.”
CG Life launched 24/364 earlier this year to bring year-round attention to rare diseases and the 300 million people worldwide who live with them, extending the awareness push to the other 364 days outside of the 24 hours that make up the annual Rare Disease Day in February. The initiative focused on utilizing documentaries and day-in-the-life style video series to better highlight the daily realities of rare disease patients and their families.
“It all starts at sunrise and it ends at the end of the day, and we are in their world, watching, listening, and essentially becoming like part of a wallpaper,” CG Life CEO David Ormesher told Fierce Pharma Marketing of the documentary films in an interview.
Episode 1 of 24/364’s “In the Light” docuseries dropped in May and follows Niemann-Pick disease patient Dee Reynolds and her husband and caregiver Dan. The film presents a “vivid, personal narrative that underscores our shared humanity with those living with a rare disease,” Ormesher said in a release at the time.
“It's not just a moment, rare disease; it's a lived experience every day,” the CEO told Fierce, pointing out the “level of commitment and resilience and courage” that patients and their loved ones undertake.
CG Life has been operating since 2003 as a specialized, rare disease-focused pharma agency. Ormesher sums up the company’s mission and storytelling approach with a phase he’s “used for many years,” he said. “You must touch the heart to move the mind.”
The 2027 film festival will be populated by advocacy groups, patients and other stakeholders, but Ormesher invites others who perhaps “have heard about rare disease” but aren’t quite sure “where to even start to understand it” to join in as well. The goal, he says, is to “start to build a movement around this and to celebrate” while shining a light on the rare disease community.
As the event is “built for and with the community,” it’s something “people can connect with,” Ormesher explained.
“They can connect with true, authentic, genuine stories. And so, I think this is something that will have long legs, will take on a life of its own,” he said.
The festival is currently accepting film submissions from professional and amateur filmmakers, creators, patients, caregivers, advocates and storytellers with work relating to the lived experience of rare disease patients.