Sanfilippo Children

A documentary film by Marie-Fleur Stalder

The Sanfilippo Foundation Switzerland and the Loterie Romande supported this project.

In the course of 2011, Mrs. Marie-Fleur Stalder directed a documentary on children suffering from the Sanfilippo disease.

This film sought to show families whose children are affected by MPS IIIA, B and C. Above and beyond the laughs of the children and the effervescence of summer days when the film was mostly shot, we get a better idea of the reality of families living with children suffering from a rare, progressive and, so far, incurable disease. We discover the difficulties of daily life, of sometimes, late diagnosis, the modifications to this children’s education and their changed relations with siblings.

We also discover the love that unites and keeps these families together, and their inspiring struggles. We see grief and despair at the lack of treatment. Professor Marc Tardieu, head in the ongoing gene therapy trial of type-A Sanfilippo disease also participated in this documentary.

Mrs. Marie-Fleur Stalder has placed this documentary material at the disposal of associations, families and persons who need to communicate about rare diseases, and in particular Sanfilippo disease. The film was screened for the first time at the 2011 MPS Congress in Geneva in December 2011, and is available for online viewing