On the run from the electromagnetic fields of everyday technology

With the ever-expanding prevalence of electromagnetic field-emitting technological devices, including mobile phones, video screens and Wi-Fi transmitters, a growing number of people claim to be experiencing electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), essentially an allergic reaction to electromagnetic waves. Though studies have shown no discernible connection between electromagnetic fields and the supposed effects of EHS, the symptoms themselves are very real, leading some self-diagnosed EHS sufferers to seek out ‘quiet zones’, refuges free of what they think is causing them physical and psychological distress. Quiet Zone, by the Canadian filmmakers David Bryant and Karl Lemieux, is an impressionistic short film that seeks to convey the experiences of these ‘wave refugees’ as they retreat from modern technology and its electromagnetic aura.