Anthony Fauci to face the critics as documentary hits screens
HUGH TOMLINSON - SEPTEMBER 26, 2021
“God help us,” sighed Anthony Fauci with a weary smile, in a new documentary that is set to crystallise the reputation of America’s chief coronavirus officer as hero or villain in the eyes of a polarised nation.
“Fauci’’, a portrait of the 80-year-old who has emerged as America’s most famous doctor and the divisive figurehead of the nation’s Covid-19 response, will be released on streaming platforms by National Geographic next month.
Dr Fauci has described himself as the “skunk at the picnic” in Donald Trump’s coronavirus taskforce. His rift with the former US president cemented his status as an unlikely cult hero on the left, while right-wing supporters and pundits continue to pillory him and call for his arrest.
Now restored as President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases remains a lightning rod for public criticism as the US struggles to contain the outbreak.
In the documentary Dr Fauci is unchecked in his criticism of the “extreme far-right QAnon jerks” who have threatened his family. “I don’t understand the hate that people have,” Dr Fauci’s wife, Dr Christine Grady, said at one point.
Fauci had a limited run in cinemas this month, where audiences were required to show proof of vaccinations and wear masks.
The directors, Janet Tobias and John Hoffman, had begun shooting when Covid-19 emerged.
Dr Fauci agreed to continue as long as the project did not interfere with his work, but conservative voices in the US have ridiculed the documentary as proof that the doctor wanted to be a “movie star”.
The film shows Dr Fauci’s career bookended by two health crises, the HIV/Aids epidemic of the 1980s and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr Fauci was a leading researcher during the Aids crisis. Echoing the antivax protests of recent months, the documentary shows protests in the 1980s in which gay rights activists bore placards declaring “Fauci, you are killing us” and carried effigies of his head on a stick.
His efforts to stem the epidemic were later acknowledged, but not before tens of thousands of Americans had died.
Dr Fauci noted a key difference between the abuse he faced then and the pandemic today. The Aids activists who pilloried him were fighting for their lives in the face of government hostility and indifference.
“I cared about them, and they were fighting for a good cause,” Dr Fauci said. “They weren’t fighting for a conspiracy theory.”
Dr Fauci had no editorial input into the film and the producers said they aimed to avoid sliding into hagiography. However, the film has few dissenting voices.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/the-times/anthony-fauci-ready-to-face-the-critics-as-documentary-hits-screens/news-story/11e75e64610b094f0ea4acaf48e516c8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBEau86jZjI