Fail First follows a young woman as she navigates the absurdities and intricacies of fighting her insurance company for access to treatment for her chronic illness.
Synopsis
Through a series of phone calls and animations, Fail First follows a young woman as she navigates the absurdities and intricacies of fighting her insurance company for access to treatment for her chronic illness. During the process, she discovers the aggravating and dehumanizing methods in which insurance companies render patients unable to make critical health decisions for themselves. Fail First provides a humorous, unflinching look at how health insurance companies utilize unethical policies to put profits over the health and wellbeing of patients.
Director's Statement
Fail First emerged from the helplessness and outrage I felt while navigating the absurd and bureaucratic process to access medication for my autoimmune disease. While on a two hour long phone call with my insurance company, the process seemed so comically Kafka-esque that I began recording. To pass the time during phone calls, I began doodling: first little drawings on my skin, then scribbles on paper. With no intention other than to try to keep all of the information straight in my mind, I continued this practice until I ended up with hours of footage and half a notebook full of drawings.
I knew the treatment I needed was available. The only things preventing me from leaving the misery of my disease behind were a few pages of paperwork. I felt paralyzed by isolation and loneliness, speaking only to robots and underpaid call center workers, who wanted nothing more than to get me off the line and move on with their day. In internet searches of desperation, I found Fail First Hurts, an advocacy organization dedicated to fighting the policy that has become commonplace with insurers. There were thousands of people just like me being denied access to life changing medications needlessly. As a storyteller, I became determined to use my experiences and archive of materials not only to express my frustration, but to bring attention to the policy and people suffering as a result.
I began cutting pieces of phone calls together in an effort to communicate absurdity and grief. I felt too vulnerable at first, omitting my image from the screen out of embarrassment. I returned to the doodles I made in frustration, eventually fleshing out a little cartoon of myself wearing a cow shirt, with a chubby face and crazy hair. She felt like a truer version of myself, a version who could tell my story better than I could, so I let her take the reins.
The production of Fail First was an act of radical trust. Working within a small, all female and non-binary crew afforded a space of experimentation and vulnerability. My crew members provided the confidence and support I needed to push the film to be more personal. The closeness and connection that comes with this type of storytelling has shaped my approach to art, which is person-centered and intimate, often informed by my life experiences as a caregiver and person with a chronic illness. We wanted the film to provoke emotion, rather than be exclusively informative. Most importantly, we wanted other patients and victims of this policy to feel seen and understood.
Our dream is for Fail First to be used in advocacy and legislation to help put an end to Fail First policies. We hope not only to educate and raise awareness, but to empower those fighting for control of their healthcare.
Creative Team
Director/Editor: Desiree Schippers
Animator: Peach (Ganpicha) Sahasakul is a 2D animator, storyboard artist, and illustrator from Bangkok, Thailand. She’s passionate about telling stories that bridge cultures. Peach graduated from Northwestern University in December 2021 with a B.A. in Radio/TV/Film, with a concentration in Media Arts and Game Design and a minor in Asian American Studies. When she’s not drawing, she’s probably watching Taskmaster, visiting a science museum, or making up Pokemon.
Sound Designer: Yuxin Lu is a sound designer, composer, pianist, recordist currently based in Chicago. They graduated from DePaul University with an MA in Piano Performance and from Northwestern University with an MA in Sound Arts and Industries.
Colorist: Natasha Nair is a documentary filmmaker and colourist, currently residing in India. Unfolding tales of a person’s life by using the powerful medium of film, to communicate and question reality brought her close to non-fiction filmmaking. Following her MFA in Documentary Media from Northwestern University, she worked as a color assist at Company3, New York.
Screenings & Award Nominations
St. Louis International Film Festival - St. Louis, MO - November 2023
Aesthetica Film Festival - York, UK - November 2023
Chicago Indie Film Awards - Nominee - September 2023
Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival - Middlebury, VT - August 2023
San Francisco IndieFest - Online - June 1-11th, 2023
Indy Film Fest - Indianapolis, IN - Sat, Apr 22nd, 10:45 a.m., 2023
AmDocs Film Festival - Palm Springs, CA - Monday, April 3rd 11 a.m., 2023
The Block Cinema - Evanston, IL - June 10th, 7 p.m., 2023
