UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
documentary film directed and produced by Tom Roberts and made under the
Imagenation Abu Dhabi
Imagenation is an organization based in Harlem, New York. The organization was founded in the late 1990s by Moikgantsi Kgama. Moikgantsi Kgama has been involved in the promotion of independent movies and documentaries which share the theme of the ...
FZ banner. Roberts also wrote the story of the film. The film was released in three different languages—
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...
.
Plot
''Every Last Child'' shows the steps taken in Pakistan to eliminate
poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sym ...
(polio) infection from the country. Polio, which had almost been eradicated from the world, showed resurgence in Pakistan after the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
banned polio vaccinations. The film also shows the efforts made by health care workers, who, in spite of difficulties while doing their work such as violence and politics, attempted to save Pakistani children from polio.
The first scene in ''Every Last Child'' is of a fully armed army unit being told by its captain to get ready for war, but in this case the war is to give protection against the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
who are obstructing the polio vaccinators from immunizing children. Polio victims are then profiled: In one scene, a destitute person affected by polio and pushing a dilapidated cart says "I'll be fit in the afterlife"; in another scene, a polio-affected child is getting fitted with braces, with his distressed father watching; in yet another scene a lady whose two family members were killed by the Taliban when they were canvassing for vaccination is actively supporting the cause of vaccination. There are also scenes of false propaganda made against the vaccinations stating perceived ill effects of the polio vaccine such as making "girls prematurely adult and boys impotent." The propaganda also attributes the vaccine as a plot of
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
with intent to eliminate
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
.
The film ends on a positive note, with a scene showing documents related to the success of the vaccination programme under the title "Justice for Health", a programme initiated by
Imran Khan
Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...
.
Production
''Every Last Child'' is a production by Image Nation Abu Dhabi FZ, directed by Tom Roberts who was also the script writer. Roberts was also the producer of the film, along with Anna Melin and Sabin Agha. Ali Faisal Zaidi was the Director of Photography and editing and composing was done by Paul Carlin. The film's run time is 82 minutes.
Release and reception
''Every Last Child'' was released in November 2014 and received mostly positive reviews from critics. America's ''
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
'' called it an "unboring" documentary. The ''New York Times'' said "Tom Roberts's observational film conveys an uncommon sense of the urgency befitting the stakes raised by the public health crisis." ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' found the film "all too timely in the wake of the recent Ebola crisis." The film has a score of 73% on Metacritic.