Disc Reviews

Fire In The Blood Review

fireFire in the Blood is a hard-hitting documentary directed by Dylan Mohan Gray which gained a well earned nomination for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Billed as a tale of ‘medicine, monopoly and malice’, it tells the story of how Western pharmaceutical companies (‘pharma’) and governments aggressively blocked access to low-cost, generic AIDS drugs for developing countries after 1996, causing the unnecessary deaths of millions and the extraordinary coalition of people such as Bill Clinton, Prof Joseph Stiglitz and activists on many continents who fought back, eventually winning the battle to provide life saving drugs to those who could never afford the highly inflated pharma prices of the west. This shocking event is often played down or overlooked, and this documentary gives a voice to those who suffered and those around the world who found ways to try and turn this around.

This is not the whole story however, as the fight still continues, and this angry, upfront documentary bravely tackles the issues head on, never shying away from uncomfortable truths. Whilst highlighting the painful results of capitalism on the poor and sick, it still manages to give appropriate airtime to the perspective of the phama companies, and takes an in depth look at how and why the situation arose. I was deeply impressed by this courageous piece of film making and even more so by the scope of its coverage, and breadth of its interviewees. Included in the extras are in depth interviews with key players Dr. Peter Rost and Prof. Joseph Stiglitz, along with an unusually high number of deleted scenes, each adding real depth and sensitivity to the main piece.

It is a deeply moving, eye opening piece. Upon watching, I thought that I already knew the bare story of the AIDS drugs crisis, and was shocked and enlightened to discover the truth. It is truly a film that deserves all of its plaudits and ratings, with a strong message as to how we should proceed in the future. Pharma have learned long, hard lessons from this and have already taken steps to ensure that future patents will not be able to be compromised again on humanitarian grounds. This film does a fantastic job of raising awareness of this issue, and hopefully will inspire countless more people to follow events closely to help ensure this situation is never allowed to happen again. Whatever it takes.

Claire Hyypiä

Available on DVD from 24 March 2014

Amazon link: http://amzn.to/1kWIkkK

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