Published: 29 March 2022
Last updated: 4 March 2024
Film-maker Rod Freedman has made a series of videos chronicling Brian Sherman’s unorthodox response to living with the debilitating disease. WATCH TRAILER
AS BOTH GENE Sherman’s cousin and a documentary filmmaker, I enthusiastically embraced Gene’s suggestion of recording on film aspects of Brian’s life with Parkinson’s Disease. Given that Walking Through Honey is entirely from his own perspective, I decided to focus on Brian’s experience with three of the therapies that are now an important part of his life – exercise, speech and art.
Working with his therapists, Brian and I explored his experiences relating to movement, communication and artistic expression. Together we looked at the attempts Brian and the therapists make to slow down the debilitating effects of the disease, and investigated why these activities are helpful for him.
The videos aim to give Brian a voice, so viewers can understand what he is experiencing, physically and emotionally. Our goals became increasingly important as his speech and capacity for communication noticeably declined in the months prior to filming.
