Genepool Productions’ Last Chance to Save a Life will air on SBS February 15 as part of the broadcaster’s Australia Uncovered documentary strand.
The one-off doc explores the potential of an unlikely source of new hope in the treatment of deadly antibiotic-resistant infections: viruses.
Directed by Emma Watts, it follows patients, doctors, and scientists in real time as they experience the ‘phage therapy’. Bacteriophages – or ‘phages’ for short – are viruses that destroy bacteria.
Teams of young scientists in Melbourne and Sydney, led by Professor Anton Peleg and Professor Jon Iredell, work with patients for whom conventional medical options are no longer an option, so they will be injected with trillions of phages, with the hope that the phages can defeat their bacterial enemy. Neither the scientists nor the patients know if this radical approach will work. As the clock ticks, together they embark on an audacious experiment.
Last Chance to Save a Life was produced by Anna Mantzoros and Sonya Pemberton, with Pemberton also serving as EP. Harry Panagiotidis was co-producer.
Faustina Agolley narrates the film, which was edited by Wayne Hyett. DOPs include Aaron Smith and Dale Cochrane, with music by Dr Ruth Lee Martin and animation and visual effects by Dom Bartolo.
Principal production funding comes via Screen Australia and SBS, with further financial support from VicScreen.
SBS’s Australia Uncovered, a collection of standalone docs now in its third year, is designed to explore untold Australian stories and reveal new insights into issues facing Australians today.