Beating Superbugs: Can We Win?

BEATING SUPERBUGS: CAN WE WIN?, a feature-length documentary, presents an accessible, in-depth, true-to-fact message with a touch of mystery and suspense throughout: CAN we [Jean addition:] in fact beat superbugs? Its solutions-driven emphasis, planned as legitimate [Bill add:] optimism despite superbugs’ danger, underlies even the most dire of its parts. Through dramatic first-hand victim stories, this sober yet optimistic thread becomes even more apparent in interviews with dedicated experts in science, economic, government and the pharmaceutical industry. A narrator’s well-informed voice unites connecting facts with supporting visuals, including many original animations. This voice also periodically gives viewers clues about both personal habits and public efforts (government initiatives, pending legislation, independent foundations) with which they may join to participate in the superbug fight. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, or “superbugs,” share a global crisis status with COVID-19. So far, a quantity of the known patient deaths in this viral pandemic have been linked to bacterial infections. But ingenious solutions to superbugs are either in place or emerging. This searching documentary presents powerful stories and solutions through the eyes of patients, doctors, and researchers as well as leaders in economics, government, and pharmaceutical industries. Separately and together, they are developing innovative and practical new ways to fight the debilitating and often fatal effects of the superbug threat. These efforts, empowered by citizens everywhere, have a good chance to stem a dire prediction: if unchecked by mid-century, superbugs could surpass cancer as the No. 1 cause of human death worldwide.