Disorder: The Rare Disease Film Festival Reschedules Festival Amid COVID-19 Concerns

The event will be moved from May to November.

NEW YORK – Disorder: The Rare Disease Film Festival announced today the postponement of its 2020 festival out of an abundance of caution over COVID-19.

The festival, a first-of-its-kind event showcasing films from around the world that address the challenges of life with a rare disease, was originally scheduled for May 18 in New York City, but it will now take place in November 2020.

“As dads who both have children with rare diseases, we are intimately aware of the risk COVID-19 poses to our most vulnerable populations, especially those with a compromised immune system,” said Daniel DeFabio and Bo Bigelow, festival cofounders, in a joint statement. “Taking precautions at public events and practicing social distancing is something that many of us facing rare diseases are already very familiar with and have to think about on a daily basis. The health and safety of our attendees and their families are our first priority.”

In its third year, the festival brings together a cross-variety of rare disease stakeholders, including patients, advocates, industry, and clinicians.

This year’s festival will be the largest to date with 57 films scheduled to be screened.

About Disorder: The Rare Disease Film Festival

Disorder: The Rare Disease Film Festival is a first-of-its-kind event showcasing films from around the world that address the challenges of life with a rare disease. It was founded in 2017 by Daniel DeFabio and Bo Bigelow — one from upstate New York and the other from Maine — who each have a child with a rare disease and met at an advocacy conference in 2015. The festival brings together patients, advocates, industry, and clinicians in the rare disease space with the goal of making life-altering connections.

Sponsors for the 2020 festival so far include:

Takeda, Alnylam, Ovid, Horizon Therapeutics, Signant Health, Chan Zuckerburg Institute, Inspire, The Menkes Foundation and promotional partners CheckRare, and NORD.