Experiencing Interruptions?

The Fish Don't Care When It Rains

With humor and heart, autistic artist Jen Msumba demonstrates what the simple life of a fish can teach us about accepting our circumstances.

  • Jennifer Msumba
    Director
  • Jennifer Msumba
    Writer
  • Jennifer Msumba
    Animation
  • Jennifer Msumba
    Music
  • Kimiko Billy
    Special Thanks To
  • Natasha Mynhier
    Special Thanks To
    In A Beat
  • Brittany Simcic
    Special Thanks To
  • Jennifer Msumba
    Producer
  • Jennifer Msumba
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short, Web / New Media
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 50 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 17, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Easterseals Disability Film Challenge

    Best Film
  • Sunscreen Film Festival
    St. Petersberg
    United States
    April 30, 2021
    Best Short Documentary
  • Believe Psychology Film Festival

    Best: Hope/Happiness/Positivity
  • Florida Film Festival
    Orlando
    United States
    April 22, 2021
    Official Selection/Nominated for Grand Jury Prize
  • New Filmakers Los Angeles
    Hollywood, California
    United States
    August 22, 2020
  • Portland Film Festival
    Portland, Oregon
    United States
    October 12, 2020
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Jennifer Msumba

Award winning filmmaker Jen Msumba won the top prize—best film—against stiff competition in the 2020 Easterseals Disability challenge. You’ll repeatedly watch her captivating The Fish Don’t Care When It Rains. But you don’t have to stop with one film. Jen’s ever-increasing tribe of 32,000 followers enjoy a steady diet of YouTube films on her YouTube channel, simple titled Jennifer Msumba.
Jen inspires and motivates her viewers to have confidence, to get out of their comfort zones, and to try new things. When you follow Jen’s YouTube channel be sure to check out her interview series called, “Now That’s Interesting!”
Musician Jen has studied music since early childhood. She likes the patterns and reliability of music. Jen uses music to take abstract feelings and write those feelings into a relatable tune that everyone can get behind. After interpreting others’ music, Jen wrote her first original song at age 34. Her creations include “Finally Home” and at least 21 other songs. Her main album is Music Saved Me. You can find it on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever songs are sold. Jen has also created dozens of piano interpretations of popular songs. With each song you’ll be begging for more, so start listening at jennifermsumba.com

Your respect for Jen will deepen when you realize how far she’s come and how frequently she helps others move forward. Too often Jen had to make that progress through the sheer power of a strong spirit. Before she was diagnosed with autism even the people who loved Jen could not figure out how to help her. So she lived in residential schools and state hospitals that were a complete mismatch for what she needed—until the final one.
Thanks to finding trustworthy people who were skilled at helping, Jen has learned how to overcome impulsivity and self-harm.

Jen now lives a full life with meaningful employment, writing music and doing videography work.

Some fun facts about Jen:

She’s a member of MENSA.
She has a dog named Lemonade who loves Funyuns.
She calls her friends and family her “loyal and true” people.
She’s a comedian.
She has a huge collection of Pez dispensers

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