The Invisible Extinction spotlights the extraordinary work and charismatic personalities of renowned scientists Martin Blaser and Gloria Dominguez-Bello as they endeavor to save the vanishing microbes that are essential for our survival.
The film joins them on this urgent quest from the USA to Venezuela, China, Israel and Switzerland, showing us how the overuse of antibiotics, elective C-sections and processed foods are driving the destruction of our inner ecology, which is happening even faster than climate change. As the Covid-19 pandemic hits, Blaser pivots to focus on how our microbes may help protect us from the virus and future pandemics, while Dominguez-Bello spearheads the creation of an international microbe vault to safeguard precious bugs that may help cure chronic illnesses.
Sarah Schenck co-directed and produced The Invisible Extinction, which premiered at CPHOX and was shown in international festivals across the globe. She also was a producer/director and on-air correspondent for the PBS weekly news program Need To Know, on the acclaimed episode “Saving Carla,” which focused on childhood obesity in the Bronx. For Parent Earth, a website Schenck co-founded in 2009 to increase access to healthy food nationwide, she wrote, directed and produced hundreds of original videos in English and Spanish. She also makes video content for nonprofits including Amnesty International, the Park Slope Food Coop, the NYC public schools and the Supportive Housing Network of NY. She is currently making a movie about menopause around the world.
Steven Lawrence co-directed and produced The Invisible Extinction. He is a producer-director and media pioneer who has been making documentaries for over 30 years about artists, activists and everyday heroes—from underground Soviet rockers to a Senegalese rapper fighting FGM to cat rescuers in Brooklyn. As a producer, his work includes three feature docs in collaboration with Michael Apted, including The Long Way Home and Married In America. He created the International Emmy-award winning series Born In The USSR producing the first film in the series, Age 7 In The USSR. Among his many other producing credits are The Furious Force Of Rhymes, Sarabah and Heddy Honigmann’s 100 UP. His directing credits include Tell Tchaikovsky The News: Rock In Russia for MTV, the Vis à Vis series for PBS and The Cat Rescuers, winner of the 2018 Hamptons International Film Festival animal rights award.
Sarah and Steven will be present for a Q+A after the screening.
This documentary will be screened by Zoom on Thursday, September 26th @ 7 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86197030906
Meeting ID: 861 9703 0906
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