The Everyday Heroes of the Pandemic

ORLANDO VON EINSIEDEL, DIRECTOR, “CONVERGENCE: COURAGE IN A CRISIS”: Well, thank you. I mean, this began, if you cast — your audience cast their mind back to April 2020, this was a period where the virus was spreading around the world. It was a very upsetting moment. And at the same time as the viral spread, there were lots of other political things that were happening that were very negative and sad. There was government failures. There was greed. There was intercountry disputes and people using the pandemic as a way to crack down on freedoms. And yet, at the same time, if I looked out my window in my neighborhood in London, my neighbors were helping each other. There was community. There was compassion. And that was the same with social media. And so this project really began as a way to try and capture the good people across the world responding to the virus and helping one another, a kind of global a love letter to humanity. And we began with that principle.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA: Yes, the movie does span the globe. You`re in Iran, the U.K., Brazil, China, Peru, the U.S., and India. And, Hassan, what you bring to the film is your background in Syria. You, unfortunately, have seen violence and danger and crises firsthand. How did your background help you as you not only worked on this documentary, but in fact decided to become one of those front-line workers as well?

HASSAN AKKAD, CO-DIRECTOR, “CONVERGENCE: COURAGE IN A CRISIS”: Well, my background definitely shaped my perspective. And the pandemic isn`t my first crisis. I have gone through crisis before. So, when it happened and when it hit England, I was in a very bad state, but I was also driven by my desire to do something, because I have been living here for six years. And I wanted to help in any way possible. So, the hospital which was 10 minutes away back from where I lived was desperate for cleaners, for people to disinfect COVID wards. So, I didn`t hesitate because, again, like I — as Orlando was saying, people were — despite all the negativity that was happening, there were people out there doing amazing things and I wanted to be part of that, you know, movement who is trying to help in any way possible. So, I took the job. And the next day, I was in the ward with like full PPE, trying to combat this virus but was also struck by my colleagues. I worked in a ward where people have come from over 10 or 11 different countries, which was kind of a reflection of this global movement to combat COVID. So, that`s why I had this urge to film with them, to document them and also, to shed light on the people that we don`t normally hear about, hospital cleaners and porters who do amazing things in their work. And yes, that`s how it happened.