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Fire in the Blood

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Fire in the Blood

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Summary

An intricate tale of "medicine, monopoly and malice", FIRE IN THE BLOOD tells the story of how Western pharmaceutical companies and governments blocked access to low-cost AIDS drugs for the countries of the global south in the years after 1996 - causing ten million or more unnecessary deaths - and the improbable group of people who decided to fight back. Shot on four continents and including contributions from global figures such as Bill Clinton, Desmond Tutu and Joseph Stiglitz, FIRE IN THE BLOOD is the never-before-told true story of the remarkable coalition which came together to stop 'the crime of the century' and save millions of lives in the process.

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Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Jeremy Aspinall

The best documentaries inform and provide insight into a subject, but when they also provoke moral outrage they can have a genuine, lasting impact on the viewer. A hit at the Sundance festival, director Dylan Mohan Gray's film chronicles how western pharmaceutical companies and governments blocked access to low-cost Aids drugs for populations in the developing world from the mid-1990s onwards. It will come as no surprise that for multinational drug companies it's all about making money. But Gray's incisive and damning examination of how these institutions made use of draconian patent laws to maximise their profits at the expense of the lives of millions is an enraging experience. It's not a documentary that tries to be showy - it contains the genre's standard components of talking heads, newspaper headlines and statistics. However, thanks to the testimonies of unsung heroes such as South African activist Zackie Achmat and Ugandan doctor Peter Mugyenyi, who defied the laws to try to save his patients ("The drugs are where the disease is not"), the film is utterly absorbing and impossible to ignore.

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7.7/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameBill ClintonBill ClintonYusuf HamiedYusuf HamiedPeter MugyenyiPeter MugyenyiDesmond TutuDesmond Tutu

Crew

rolenameDirectorDylan Mohan Gray

Details

Theatrical distributor

Dartmouth Films

Released on

2013-02-22

Languages

English | Xhosa | Hindi

Available on

DVD

Formats

Colour

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