POV: Eat Your Catfish

Photo: Kathyrn’s son yelling at his father who looks at Kathryn angrily. On Kathryn’s screen, she’s written: “He is senile."

 

Credit: Courtesy of Eat Your Catfish

A brutally frank and darkly humorous portrait of a family teetering on the brink, grappling with the daily demands of disability and in-home caregiving.

Paralyzed by late-stage ALS and reliant on round-the-clock care, Kathryn clings onto a mordant wit as she wishes to witness her daughter’s wedding. POV: Eat Your Catfish premieres on Monday, July 24, 2023 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

Kathryn’s ALS diagnosis has left Kathryn paralyzed and needing 24-hour care, communicating only by pointing out letters with her eyes on a special keyboard. It has also put incredible strain on her relationship with her husband who has a hard time looking at her and has been difficult for many nurses and aides. Yet, her desire to be with her children and to see her daughter’s wedding drives Kathryn’s persistence in surviving, and her critical and humorous spirit remains unbroken. Filmed almost entirely from Kathryn’s point of view, filmmakers Adam Isenberg, Senem Tuzen, and Noah Arjomand – Kathryn’s son – put together Eat Your Catfish from over 900 hours of recordings.