Director Adam Benzine, Oscar-nominated for his 2016 short documentary 'Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah', is unveiling his new film 'The Curve' at the Toronto International Film Festival market. The documentary, produced in secret over the past six months, investigates the decisions made by American leaders from mid-January to mid-April that shaped the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Structured as an investigative thriller, the film combines original interviews with creatively treated archival footage. Experts featured include Dr. Ali Khan, former director of the CDC's Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response; Dr. Emily Landon, chief infectious-disease epidemiologist at the University of Chicago Medicine; and journalist Sonya Shah, author of 'Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond'. Other contributors include Ilan Goldenberg, former U.S. State Department advisor; Dr. Gavin Macgregor-Skinner of the Global Biorisk Advisory Council; and Ed Yong, science writer for The Atlantic.
Benzine, a journalist who has also contributed to Variety, said: 'My hope is that “The Curve” will be for COVID-19 what “Inside Job” was for the housing market collapse. With the U.S. death toll nearing 200,000, Americans are understandably furious. They are demanding to know how this could have happened. And using meticulous research, in-depth context, creatively treated archival and expert first-person testimony, we reveal just that.'
The film features music by Emmy winner Joel Goodman and editing by Tiffany Beaudin, who won the Canadian Cinema Editors Award for 'Claude Lanzmann'. Melissa Hood serves as associate producer, Diana Warmé as line producer, and Divya Shahani as executive producer. Production is complete, with final post-production underway, and the documentary is ready for U.S. broadcast in October. All rights and territories are currently available.
Benzine added: 'While circumstances mean this movie will likely launch first on the small screen, it’s our intention to have this work of cinema — which has been created and scored with the big screen in mind — in theaters globally as soon as is safe and feasible.'
