Cute parasites? You bet. (Images courtesy Sharon Shattuck)

Parasites compose some of the more fascinating and successful organisms on the planet, but it’s hard not to focus on the yuck factor when there’s a botfly larva squirming inside a dude’s head.

So it’s pretty cool to see a short documentary with a different approach hitting festivals around the country: Sharon Shattuck‘s “Parasites: A User’s Guide.”

The 27-minute documentary takes a quirky look at the role tiny parasitic worms play in human health and overall ecology. In particular, the film looks at helminthic therapy (don’t call it “worm therapy”).

If you’re a frequent Radiolab, This American Life or Stuff From the Science Lab listener, then you’ve heard about this treatment. Contract hookworms and it might alleviate your asthma/allergy symptoms. It’s the work of entrepreneurs and laboratory researchers alike, all looking to use worms to improve the quality of human lives

“Parasites: A User’s Guide” premieres at noon on Aug. 1 at the Traverse City Film Festival in Traverse City, Mich. Shattuck plans to announce more screenings on the official website, but for now check out the trailer.

Want more insight into this project? Well you’re in luck because I recently interviewed Sharon about the film. Here’s how it went down:

ROBERT LAMB: What prompted you to film a documentary about parasitic intestinal worms?

SHARON SHATTUCK: I studied and taught ecology for years before I ever touched a video camera, and one of the things that I love about ecology is that if you study something long enough, you’ll discover links between the most unlikely creatures. You can play six degrees of separation with the natural sciences all day and still find new connections.

Parasites were the perfect subjects for me because I wanted to show some of these unlikely connections in a creative way — using animation, music and humor — but it wasn’t until I started really researching them that I discovered the world of people who are using parasites to overcome autoimmune diseases. I loved the juxtaposition of something that most people think is evil with what is in fact a very good thing: the curing, or at least abating, of disease symptoms. It was the perfect example of ecology helping people.

I started working on the film before I became an intern with Radiolab, but once I found out that Radiolab would be doing an episode on parasites, even using some of my film’s characters (Jasper Lawrence, Dr. Joel Weinstock), I decided to step it up and not just explain the science behind the worms (called ‘helminths’), but question the prejudices that we all hold about certain words, and the consequences to our health. If helminths were called ‘probiotics’ instead of ‘parasites’ or ‘worms,’ would we view them any differently?

In what ways do we misunderstand our parasites?

There are bad parasites, and there are good parasites, and then there are parasites in between. What I learned while making my film is that the majority of parasites are benign to people, and some (such as the bacteria in our gut) became essential to our health — so we now call them “symbionts,” but they’re still technically parasites.

Based on my understanding of the science, and after meeting many people who have been positively impacted by low-level helminth inoculation (or “infection,” depending on your viewpoint), I think that there is more to helminths than meet the eye, and maybe our fear of “worms” or “parasites” is keeping us from considering a new treatment that could help many people.

Helminthic therapy remains fairly controversial. Does the film take a stance on the issue?

I tried not to say, “This is awesome, go for it” or “Ew, gross!” Instead, I told the stories of a few different people whose lives have crossed with helminths. But the film does take a different approach than many of the documentaries and television shows I’ve seen on parasites — I wanted to turn the notion of ‘evil’ on its head, and pose some new questions that can inspire discussion. As an ecologist, I don’t believe anything in the world is black and white, and parasites are no exception.

A lot of documentary projects really play up the horror of parasites. How did you avoid the “gross-out factor” in the film?

Well, each editing decision involves a choice. Do I zoom in on a person’s gut and show live footage of wiggly worms, or do I stop-motion paint on people’s bodies, to represent the parasite’s path? Ultimately, I was constrained by my budget, and so the film doesn’t resemble [PBS's] NOVA documentaries at all — but I think that’s a good thing! Because the film adopts a more creative style, I felt that I could be more playful in my representation of parasites, and the helminth worms in particular. I do show some live footage of helminths, but I also mix in gummy worms, vintage footage of puppets and painted animations, to poke fun at the idea that something so small (microscopic, even) can scare people so much.

What’s next for Sharon Shattuck?

Good question! Right now my work is pretty animation-intensive. I’m working with Wicked Delicate Films (the guys who made the 2007 film “King Corn“) as the animator for three new films, and I’m also working on an animation for the new season of Radiolab.

My friend Jesse, another science nerd, and I recently started a science media production company called Sweet Fern Productions, and we’re brainstorming a feature-length film about myth and science in the Victorian age that involves Alfred Russel Wallace, sea monsters, giant flowers and modern biodiversity, among other things.

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