The First Wave

(Matthew Heineman, US 2021, 93 min., DCP)

Director Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land, A Private War) was given remarkable access to New York City health care facilities between March and June of 2020, the first four months the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States. Combining footage of healthcare workers battling the disease and interviews with those workers and family members of victims, the film provides an immediate experience of the early days of the crisis. As COVID becomes an accepted fact of everyday life, the healthcare workers ritualize both wins and losses as they try to deal with the overwhelming and extraordinary situation.

Introduction and post-screening discussion by Tracey Harrison, SEIU Local 1199.