Where People Understand is a 12-minute short documentary about John Ferman, founder of Chronic Pain Partners/EDS Awareness. It traces his lifelong commitment to building community, support, and understanding for people living with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and related conditions.

Summary

The average time to get diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is 10-12 years. John Ferman knows this firsthand. His wife, Carol, never received a correct diagnosis. She died due to the consequences of misdiagnosis, which is at the core of Chronic Pain Partners/EDS Awareness’s mission.

Where People Understand follows the life and advocacy work of John Ferman, founder of Chronic Pain Partners/EDS Awareness, one of the earliest patient-led organizations serving the EDS community in the US. Through education, support groups, webinars, awareness campaigns, and media projects, John has spent more than a decade helping people with EDS find the resources and community that he believed every patient deserves; the community his wife would have needed.

Why We Made This Film

I first started working with John Ferman in 2019 while producing We Are Visible, a documentary about people living with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome around the world. Through that collaboration, I quickly understood that John centered the patient experience, not the doctor’s perspective. He wanted to make a difference in the lives of people affected by EDS through peer support and trusted information, a combination that was still often missing at the time. He never charged for those resources. This man made such a difference in so many lives, and he never made a big deal out of it. So we decided, after his passing, to honor his legacy by highlighting his selfless service to the community, because he would never have done that.

— Karina Sturm, Director
 

Watch the Film

Crew

Director, Producer & Writer: Karina Sturm
Karina Sturm is a disabled multimedia journalist and filmmaker from Germany who previously lived in San Francisco. She holds an MA in International Journalism from Edinburgh Napier University and writes for publications in both Germany and the United States. 

Her work focuses on disability, chronic illness, and the accurate representation of disabled people in media. Karina has collaborated with Chronic Pain Partners since 2019 and previously directed We Are Visible, a documentary featuring people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome from around the world.

Living with EDS and multiple comorbid conditions herself, Karina brings both professional expertise and lived experience to her storytelling.

Camera, Editing & Design: Lucas Fuchs

Lucas provides the creative and technical expertise behind the film’s visual storytelling. Passionate about every aspect of film production, he plans, shoots, edits, and contributes to post-production.

After completing his degree in media design (IHK) in 2013, Lucas worked as a freelance camera operator and editor. In 2018, he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Design with a focus on film, animation, and graphic design from the Technical University Georg Simon Ohm in Nuremberg.

Film Sponsor

Chronic Pain Partners / EDS Awareness

Chronic Pain Partners is a U.S.-based non-profit organization founded in 2011 to support individuals living with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and related conditions.

The organization provides educational resources, support networks, webinars, advocacy initiatives, and programs for patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, and community leaders. In recent years, Chronic Pain Partners has expanded into a multimedia magazine, including documentary filmmaking and video production.

Accessibility

Unfortunately, audio description is not yet available for this film. However, a transcript including image descriptions can be provided upon request.