POV, Eat Your Catfish

PBS Western Reserve (WNEO 45.1 / WEAO 49.1):

Sunday, July 30, at 11 PM
Monday, July 31, at 4 AM

Fusion (WNEO 45.2 / WEAO 49.2):

Monday, July 24, at 10 PM
Saturday, July 29, at 1 AM

POV provides a balanced, in-depth look at Kathryn, a woman paralyzed by late-stage ALS in the wryly moving family portrait, EAT YOUR CATFISH. Reliant on round-the-clock care, she clings to a mordant wit while yearning to witness her daughter's wedding. Narrated by Kathryn and pictured entirely from her point of view, co-directors and producers Adam Isenberg, Senem Tüzen and Noah Amir Arjomand — who is Kathryn's son — deliver a brutally frank and darkly humorous portrait of a family teetering on the brink, grappling with the daily demands of disability and in-home caregiving.

With her daughter Minou’s wedding day approaching, Kathryn is determined to live to see her child get married. Years with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease, have left Kathryn paralyzed and needing 24-hour care. She relies on an eye-tracking, speech-generating computer to impart her wishes, but it can be an uphill struggle to be ‘heard’. With her mind intact and having opted for mechanical breathing, she could live like this indefinitely. But the destructive manner in which Kathryn’s family is handling the situation further complicates an already strained dynamic. Her husband Saïd feels embittered and alienated, and dedicated nurses and aides are hard to find and keep. Her grown son Noah, who lives with Kathryn and Saïd in their New York City apartment, struggles to balance his academic obligations with those he feels to his mother. Amid all the tension and hardship, Kathryn endures her condition, even as she questions her own decision making.