EXCLUSIVELY AT THE IFI

Justifiable anger seethes from this consciousness-raising documentary fresh from its premiere at Sundance. How is it, asks filmmaker Dylan Mohan Gray, that the major pharmaceutical companies can deny treatment to the developing world by pricing their products out of reach of the world’s poor? The spotlight here is on AIDS victims across Africa, dying in their millions because restrictive patent legislation prevents their governments shipping in budget-priced non-branded versions of the anti-viral drugs which have halted the progress of HIV in the West.

The whole tragic scenario is a testament to human greed, yet contributions from interviewees including Bill Clinton, Desmond Tutu, Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, and a host of galvanised activists, also attest that it’s an urgent opportunity for public opinion to effect worthwhile change. There’s scant pretence to neutrality here, but the arguments are thorough and compelling, while never losing sight of the individual human suffering and hope which constitute the real story at the heart of the scandal. (Notes by Trevor Johnston.)

Director Dylan Mohan Gray will attend the opening night screening on Thursday February 21st and participate in a Q&A alongside Jane-Ann McKenna of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders Ireland. The discussion will be moderated by Adrian McCarthy of Wildfire Films.