Three years ago filmmaker Penny Lane was a guest at DOCVILLE with the hilarious, inventive documentary Nuts! She played, as it were, a game with viewers who like to believe crazy stories. In The Pain of Others she takes a completely different approach. It is still a wild story that explores the boundaries of 'truth', but this time there is a focus on the tragedy of those who believe in a world of non-believers. Lane only uses the self-made footage of three women who document their controversial disease. With empathy she gathers their testimonies, which are a heart-rending cry for help: a sincere exclamation that their suffering is real, that they are not just imagining this. Their evidence: hours upon hours of footage of their bizarre symptoms. An alienating, creepy experience that evokes empathy and makes you weary at the same time. An interesting look at the online communities in which everyone sees their own truth proven.