“It seemed like the federal government had badly bungled their response.
Gibney brought co-directors Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger on board to help tackle the challenge.
“This is not something that just happened, that had to be this way,” Gibney adds.
Credit: Neon
“We could have contained this.
So much of the damage and so many of the deaths could have been prevented.”
Totally Under Controlcompellingly and carefully makes this case, outlining a pileup of failures in the government’s response.
Neon
As the film reveals, bureaucratic red tape hindered efforts to ramp up testing.
“The key theme here is science versus politics,” says Gibney.
“I think it enabled us to move really fast,” Hillinger says.
“We sort of helped each other to retain everything.
Securing those interviews, however, was an inevitably challenging endeavor.
First, the filmmakers had to devise a way to film subjects in the midst of a nationwide quarantine.
Cinematographer Ben Bloodwell ultimately came up with an elegant solution, dubbed “the COVID-cam.”
Then there was the matter of convincing people to speak on the record.
Harutyunyan spent days trying to persuade one state official to appear on camera.
Hillinger, meanwhile, made repeated overtures to the CDC, to no avail.
But as the filmmakers emphasize, citizens will play a major role in writing the next chapter.
“And it’s not just the president.
I think we are capable of helping to push that change.”
“This is a very important decision,” adds Harutyunyan.
We really need to think hard about who we’re putting in charge of our lives and livelihood.”
Totally Under Controlis available to rent on digital platforms and will be available to stream on Hulu Oct. 20.
