Unseen Enemies

12/15/2024

Made by the Shell Film Unit, this is quite a fascinating short documentary that illustrates the advances in treatment for a variety of diseases that afflict people the world over. It's largely centred in Africa where the effects of Elephantiasis and Beri Beri are clear to see on a population that's malnourished and reliant on some pretty filthy water supplies, but it also ventures into Asia and even Europe as it demonstrates just how science and in particular antibiotics can combat these debilitating and frequently life-shortening ailments. There's some interesting photography that shows us these menacingly microscopic bacteria in their natural habitat and the narration is peppered with statistics about the extent to which the human population is susceptible to these illnesses as well as t