'Indestructible': A Documentary About Lou Gehrig's Disease
By Masha Savitz
Epoch Times New York Staff May 24, 2008


Filmmaker and Lou Gehrig's Disease patient Ben Byer. (Roko Belic)


Indestructible is the poignant and brutally honest autobiographical film by the endearing Ben Byer, chronicling his battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, over a period of three years as he grapples with the debilitating and fatal neurodegenerative disease that attacks motor neurons in the brain and spinal chord, causing atrophy and weakening of the muscles.

His odyssey initially takes him across the country and then the globe. At first he seeks medical answers. When those become exhausted and exhausting, Byer turns his search into a spiritual quest in hopes of finding an explanation for the cause of his affliction. He interviews prominent neurologists and clergy from both Western and Eastern approaches and disciplines, discussing medicine and theodicy. Those he interviews include bestselling author and neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks, Chinese neurosurgeon Hongyun Huang, and Rabbi Daniel Gordis.

Byer also meets, interviews, and bonds with others suffering from the same malady, discovering that the ones most isolated are the most in need of connection. The film is gripping, exposing the stress and conflicts that arise within a family when someone is struck with the realities and challenges of ALS.

Byer was born in Chicago in 1971. He studied journalism, film theory, and then later acting, which led him to perform both in the United States and in Europe. Eventually he landed in Los Angeles, where he wrote his first play, which went on to be a success shortly before he was diagnosed with ALS in 2002. In 2003, Byer, along with his sister Rebecca Rush, founded the ALS Film Fund to produce works of art intended to create positive change for ALS patients worldwide.

The talent gathered to create Byer's vision includes award-winning cinematographer Roko Belic and Chicago-based cellist Alison Chesley, who composed the score. Songs by Greg Brown, Jason Narducy, and Nora O'Conner add to the film's soundtrack.

Today there are an estimated 30,000 people in the United States suffering from ALS, with 8,000 new cases diagnosed every year. There is currently no cure for ALS.

Ben Byer has to this day outlived his prognosis. No longer able to speak, however, he is grateful for the medium of film which allows his message to continue reaching people and affecting change, as his voice and words and radiant smile live on.

Indestructible recently completed an international film festival tour, winning five jury prizes for best documentary among other honors. The film opens to the public in Los Angeles and San Francisco on May 30 and in Chicago on June 17.

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