Saffron Cassaday, Director of Designer Shit (Fecal Transplant for IBD)

Against the Grain

Fecal microbiota transplantation, otherwise known as FMT, is putting the stool from one person into the GI tract of another. This is an accepted treatment for recurrent clostridium dificil colitis which is a type of bacterial infection. Because we know that people with Crohn’s and colitis have a less biodiverse microbiome, some have hypothesized that a fecal transplant could theoretically be helpful for inflammatory bowel disease.
I interviewed Saffron Cassaday who is a documentary filmmaker based in Toronto and Los Angeles. Her films have been broadcast in over 40 countries including on PBS, Netflix, Hulu and CBC in North America.
Her current film, “Designer Shit”, is about Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) for IBD. Saffron, who has suffered from ulcerative colitis for nearly a decade, sets off on a journey to determine if this form of treatment could potentially cure her of her disease. Through interviews with some of the top researchers in the field, Saffron is enlightened on the power “poo” has to affect our health, happiness and possibly even our physical appearance.
The film is set to be released in Spring of 2019.
As a disclaimer this is not an endorsement of FMT for treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. This is not FDA approved for this condition and at this point is still being actively researched.
Information on Designer Shit:
https://designershitdocumentary.com/