Collective (2019)

 

I'm not entirely sure how to put my message across here so I'll just start by saying Collective (2019) IS MANDATORY VIEWING. 

 

Nominated for two Academy awards in the categories of Best Documentary and Best International Picture, this Romanian film is one of the most important things I've seen in a while.

 

The style of storytelling and filming is something I don't believe to have been truly familiar with. 

 

Knowing it was a documentary, the level of intimate and detailed access and how it made this outlandish story so real and tangible, almost made it look like it was scripted from start to finish.

 

Offering multiple urgent topics for discussion, it is difficult for me to break this down without diluting any of its key components. 

 

It starts setting the scene by describing an incident that took place on 30 October 2015, at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest, where a fire killed 27 people and left over 180 injured (of which 37 later passed away).

 

This deadly episode set in motion a chain of events that would reveal the many layers of corruption and negligence within the Romanian government and its healthcare system, starting with the 2016 diluted disinfectants crisis in Romania.

 

While doing so, it also showed how in a deeply rotten system, festering with self-indulgent people and devised to repeat its cycles, there is some room for hope. Small as it may be, it exists, as we see a change in the Health Ministry and how some are not afraid to take on the overpowering institutional injustice - even if to try and take down one obstacle at a time.

 

Another key element, perhaps the heart of it, is the portrayal of the media.

 

Interestingly, the major story that breaks is the work of a sports newspaper in Romania.

 

How do they get to do it?

 

I'm not sure...

 

.. But that makes it all the more spectacular.

 

To see a sports journalist team lead one of the most important investigations in the country, with profound consequences in its core, left me inspired and in awe.

 

Naturally, working as a journalist, it was difficult for me not to come away from this with another important example of just how good journalism is crucial to hold people in power accountable, while also informing people.

 

In a time where the world is increasingly divided and many regularly try to create distrust in the media by creating harmful outlets and spreading fake news, it's important to remember the vital role journalists hold when breaking stories.

 

Throughout history we've seen governments collapse; religious, pharmaceutical and tobacco lobbies (to name a few powerful stakeholders) incriminated, political figures exposed... and at the heart of many of these revelations is the hard work of many of our peers, past and present, who despite all the insults and threats, in the face of all the pressure coming from inside and out and the numerous personal and professional sacrifices have chosen a path of righteousness and truth to better serve the people.

 

Having a health crisis as an essential element in this Romanian story, the comparisons to the pandemic and how world leaders deal with it are sure to arise.

 

Questions over potential interests of self serving politicians and other lobbyists, power plays happening behind the scenes and wild misinformation are just the tip of the iceberg, but again, it is here where journalists will have an impact as now, more than ever, the fight is on to expose wrongdoings and keep people safe and informed.