10 documentaries and TV series about viruses

1. Pandemic: How to prevent the spread

Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak

• USA, 2020.
• Documentary.
• Duration: 1 season (6 episodes, 50 minutes each).
• IMDb: 6.3.

Let's go with the trump cards: this is an option for those who do not have time for the entire list.

At the beginning of the year, when the coronavirus was not yet on everyone's lips, Pandemic appeared on Netflix - a six-episode a project dedicated to the global cause of the fight against viruses and in fact summarizing many documentaries from this collections. Its creators methodically analyze the process of the emergence of new strains; answer why it usually happens in poor countries and how some infections spread through animals. You will also learn about how vaccines. The series has been created since 2018, and its authors and heroes repeated the same idea: a new pandemic will soon happen, and the world is not ready for it.

2. American Experience: Influenza 1918

• USA, 1998.
• Documentary.
• Duration: 52 minutes
• IMDb: 7.9.

The history of the spread of coronavirus is often compared to the events of a century ago. Then in a world that has not yet recovered from First world war, the Spanish flu epidemic was raging. An episode of the cult documentary series American Adventure is dedicated to her.

Together with the soldiers returning home, the Spanish woman spread across the planet faster than any war. According to various estimates, died from her1918 Pandemic (H1N1 virus) more than 50 million people, in America the virus has killed 600,000 people. Despite the fact that then various security measures were also introduced, the authorities did not dare to declare a centralized quarantine in the country, and the scientists could not develop a vaccine.

3. We Heard the Bells: the Influenza of 1918

• USA, 2010.
• Documentary.
• Duration: 57 minutes
• IMDb: 7.5.

This film is also about the infamous 1918 epidemic. But this is not an attempt to recreate the events of a century ago, but rather a desire to reflect them. The main characters are old people from different parts of the United States, who, as children, witnessed the spread of the disease. They recall how they did not believe that the Spanish woman would touch them, how faced death relatives and friends, how they themselves were sick - and after that they experienced a prejudiced attitude for a long time, because other people were afraid that those who had recovered would infect them too. According to many heroes of the film, the events of those years became the worst memories in life.

4. A month in Wuhan

The Lockdown: One Month in Wuhan

• China, 2020.
• Documentary.
• Duration: 33 minutes
• IMDb: 7.7.

A documentary project about life in the notorious city of Wuhan during its complete isolation. At the beginning of 2020, 11 million people were left alone at the epicenter of the spread coronavirus. The main characters are doctors, officials and ordinary citizens who were able to organize themselves in the face of illness.

Today we know that the borders of the city are open again and the danger has passed, so now the film looks already with relief. Therefore, first of all, this is a movie about how the virus can really be dealt with and that the personal contribution of each is important for the common cause.

5. How to survive the plague

How to Survive a Plague

• USA, 2012.
• Documentary.
• Duration: 1 hour 50 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.6.

Contrary to the title, this film is not a manual on what to do in the event of a Black Death pandemic. This is about HIV and AIDS - diseases, about which until a certain time they preferred to be silent - but somewhere they are silent today.

The scene is USA, New York, in the yard of the 80s. HIV treatment costs fabulous money, homophobia is rampant in the country, and the government turns a blind eye to people's problems. The main characters are the founders of civil societies ACT UP and TAG. Their goal is to inform people about what HIV infection is, as well as financial and informational support to patients and protection of their rights. Activists talk about the difficulties they have faced over the past 30 years, what they have achieved and what tasks they face today.

6. Fire in blood

Fire in the blood

• India, 2013.
• Documentary.
• Duration: 1 hour 27 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.7.

If treating HIV-infected people in America is a difficult but solvable problem, in African countries it is almost impossible. The fact is that many pharmaceutical giants refuse to voluntarily supply the medicines necessary for antiretroviral therapy to poor countries. Because of this, dozens of people die every day without the opportunity to receive treatment. The main characters of the film are volunteers, doctors and lawyers who fight for equal rights for the sick and accessible medicines for people all over the world.

7. Why Do Viruses Kill?

• UK, 2010.
• Documentary.
• Duration: 50 minutes
• IMDb: 7.7.

Of all the projects on the list, this one is perhaps the least optimistic. The film was released 10 years ago after the swine flu pandemic that fell victim toPandemic (H1N1) 2009 - update 112 about 18,000 people. Then it became obvious that we are still powerless in front of some of the creatures of nature and that modern science is not fully aware of the mechanisms of the emergence of new strains. Why do viruses kill? introduces us to the device of viruses and answers the question of why even today scientists cannot stop their spread in time.

8. Hero with a Thousand Faces

• USA, 2016.
• Documentary.
• Duration: 1 hour 29 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.8.

From 2014 to 2016, a disease raged in West Africa that carried awayEBOLA SITUATION REPORT lives of more than 11,000 people. But this film is not about how quickly Ebola destroys a person from the inside, but about the people who are fighting the epidemic. The film crew, who went to Sierra Leone, focused on doctors and volunteers risking their lives.

9. Mosquitoes

Mosquito

• USA, 2017.
• Documentary.
• Duration: 1 hour 2 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.9.

When talking about Ebola and other viral diseases, one cannot help but talk about other human enemies. We have long been accustomed to them and often do not even take them seriously, but they very often carry deadly infectious diseases. That's right, we are talking about mosquitoes. The film contains a fascinating and coherent story about how these seemingly harmless insects reproduce, what they eat and what global epidemics are responsible. The voiceover, by the way, belongs to Jeremy Renner.

10. Coronavirus: Explained

• USA, 2020.
• Documentary.
• Duration: 1 season.
• IMDb: 7.8.

The most current project on the list. This is the new season of the documentary series Explained, whose authors in half-hour videos answer complex questions about health, sex, politics and economics in simple language. One of last season's episodes was devoted to epidemics, in which Bill Gates and a team of visiting doctors discussed the likelihood that a new pandemic. Alas, their predictions came true even faster.

This visionary episode has been turned into a full-fledged three-part miniseries. Its authors (voice of the narrator - J. TO. Simmons) explain how the COVID-19 virus appeared, how we fight it and what will happen to the world next. The creators are also trying to answer the most pressing question: why of all the viruses known to science, this particular one caused a pandemic, the likes of which people have not seen for over a century.