ABOUT THE FILM

LOGLINE

From Oscar-nominated filmmaker David France comes the inside story of the race for the COVID-19 vaccine.

LONG SYNOPSIS

From Academy Award®-nominated director David France (How to Survive a Plague, Welcome to Chechnya, and The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson) comes a definitive and eye-opening feature-length documentary that takes an exclusive look at the massive global undertaking to research, develop, regulate and roll out COVID-19 vaccines in the war against the worldwide pandemic.

The film begins in early 2020 when the coronavirus leapt all borders, and follows researchers into their labs, investigators as they conduct trials involving millions of volunteers, and regulators in their lockdown offices as death tolls mount and political pressures grow brutal. Continuing throughout 2021 as the vaccines show promise, the film charts the towering obstacles, sharp disputes, and systemic injustices that threaten to leave most of the world begging for vaccines—and watching powerlessly as more-deadly variants develop. The hope of a return to normalcy was pushed further and further down the line.

With unparalleled access to the most prominent actors in this colossal effort, from bench scientists to major pharmaceuticals, government agencies, and frontline workers, this is the historic chronicle of the most consequential undertaking of our lifetimes, where towering achievements in science collide with the geopolitical realities of desperation, greed, and nationalism.

Director David France

Writers David France, Tyler H. Walk

Producer Mira Chang

Executive Producers Joy Tomchin, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Jim & Susan Swartz, Nina & David Fialkow, Greg Boustead, Jessica Harrop, Poppy Dixon, Jack Oliver

Co-Executive Producers Scott & Molly Forstall, Marni E.J. Grossman, Lauren & John Driscoll
senior producer for HBO Sara Rodriguez
executive producers for HBO Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller

Consulting Producer Jon Cohen

Editors Adam Evans, Tyler H. Walk

Cinematographers Tom Bergmann, Wolfgang Held, John Pope

Music Osei Essed

Presented By HBO Documentary Films, in association with Impact Partners, Sandbox Films, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Wellcome Trust and Sky

FESTIVALS
2022 Thessaloniki Documentary, CPH:DOX (World Premiere)

AVAILABLE TERRITORIES
The World

EXHIBITION FORMATS
DCP, Digital Download