OSCAR NOMINATED FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The U.S. has been Polio free for nearly 50 years yet Academy Award nominated The Final Inch is a documentary short that tells a different story revealing the fight against Polio in the developing world as one of the greatest non-military volunteer efforts in history.
Polio today is a disease of the poor. It occurs from drinking water contaminated with fecal matter and once infected, a child is crippled for life. The film follows a “quiet army” of volunteers who go door-to-door, slum-to-slum to provide free vaccination to any child willing to open their mouth to two droplets of the vaccine. However, each encounter is not easy. In most marginalized Muslim enclaves, children are hidden from vaccinators as American-made medicines are not to be trusted. It’s an uphill, complex battle influenced by politics, public health and poverty yet the volunteers continue tirelessly.
The filmmaker highlights the problems in India, while mixing in stories from several American Polio survivors reminding us that the disease has left a very painful mark on our country. While emphasizing that health is a human rights issue deserving of global attention, the film demonstrates that there are ways to help without pushing American values and interests on a culture uniquely its own.
