Malaria film shot in the Amazon

Catherine Balston • Sep 13, 2019

Story Productions fixer travels to Manaus for an ITN Productions malaria film. Watch the film below

Mosquitoes are among the world’s deadliest creatures. Story Productions knows that only too well from the research and production services we provided for a Discovery Channel documentary about the tiny killers two years ago.

One of the deadly diseases that mosquitoes transmit – malaria – was the focus of a shoot last month that took a Story Productions' fixer to the Amazon – Brazil’s “at risk” malaria zone – to support an ITN Productions crew. The shoot was for MMV (Medicines for Malaria Venture) covering a potentially game-changing new drug to tackle a species of the malaria parasite that can lie dormant for months or even years in the human liver and cause relapses.

The new drug is the first single-dose cure for relapsing malaria. The film will introduce the challenges of access to healthcare services for the Amazon's more remote communities through interviews with patients, doctors and medical professionals in Manaus and at the Tropical Medicine Foundation.

Capturing plenty of colourful, interesting footage was essential for this news-style programme, creating visual support for the contributor interviews. The two-day shoot factored in time to do this and included a boat trip on the Rio Negro – one of the main modes of transport in the region – as well as filming in a laboratory, a hospital and vox pops with malaria patients.

The film will be launched at the European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health in Liverpool on 16 September 2019. It will also be made available to all members of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene – a charity dedicated to improving global health – as well as to policy makers and the general public via MMV's website and social media platforms.

Filming on the Rio Negro river in the Amazon

ITN Productions needed a fixer in Brazil for the shoot and gave our production team a call. Story Productions has plenty of experience filming in the Amazon – a challenging environment to shoot in for a number of reasons, not least in the current political climate as fires continue to burn across the region. Our fixer travelled to Manaus for the two-day shoot along with a two-person camera crew from ITN and two producer-directors who advised on the film content, Renata Rabello (Project Manager) at Tropical Medicine Foundation and Susana Ribeiro (Sr. Program Associate) at Global Health Strategies.

Story Productions provided a driver, hired equipment in São Paulo , rented batteries in Manaus (read more about restrictions on travelling with lithium batteries ) and provided assistance with translation as well as all technical aspects of the shoot.

" Working with the experienced, committed professionals at Story Productions was a delightful experience. Given the challenges of shooting in the Amazon, they were really successful in enabling us to capture the day-to-day reality of life for people in remote river communities without bias as well as highlighting the beauty of it all. I'm looking forward to working with the team again on the next adventurous shoot. " Renata Rabello, Project Manager at Tropical Medicine Foundation

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Read our tips on filming in the Amazon.
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