Confined by Long COVID to her brother’s childhood bedroom, Lizzie wrestles with illness and disability through a silent dialogue with the boyhood souvenirs that surround her. These objects quietly push her towards a breakthrough that changes how she sees her illness, and herself.

Director Biography - Lizzie Parmenter

Lizzie is a filmmaker and comedian committed to making strong eye contact with anyone who gives her a weird look for using wheelchair assistance in the airport. Lizzie's work blends comedy with various genres to explore themes of alienation and absurdity. Her horror comedy short Thirst Trap—which she created, wrote, and starred in—won an Audience Award at the 2024 New Orleans Film Festival. Her sci-fi dramedy pilot placed in the 2024 Austin Film Festival script competition. As an artist living with Long COVID, Lizzie strives to advance Long COVID visibility through her work.

Director Statement

Long COVID often makes me feel stoppable. It prevents me from driving, working, walking places, talking on the phone for too long, dancing to Cher in my bedroom … you get the picture.

I was disabled by Long COVID in early 2025. But I’m not alone. Globally, 400 million people are living with Long COVID. It’s now the most common chronic illness in American children. But for much of the general public, Long COVID is either a joke, a mystery, or simply unknown.

Be the Explorer reflects what daily life is like with Long COVID and shows how it reshapes the body, daily life, and identity. Right now, this story is critical: public awareness of Long COVID is severely lacking, and treatments do not exist. Be the Explorer is also as much about Long COVID as it is about resilience—doing whatever you can, however you can. Making this film showed me that I am, in fact, unstoppable. Not in spite of my chronic illness, but because of it.