the race to save our microbiome: the invisible extinction
You can't see me. You can't survive without me. You need to save me.
What am I? The Invisible Extinction!
TRI and Microba – a world leader in the analysis of the gut microbiome – are hosting a screening of the documentary, “The Race to Save our Microbiome: The Invisible Extinction”. A panel of Microba and TRI-based gut microbiome researchers will be on hand to answer your questions following the film. You are also invited to stay and chat afterwards over light refreshments.
Who should attend?
This event is open to members of the community, clinicians, researchers and industry. This is an invaluable event for anyone interested in the how the microbes in our gut can impact our health and an opportunity to hear from a local biotech and researchers working in this space.
About the documentary
Facing an international public health emergency - the loss of our ancestral microbes – two globetrotting microbiologists, Gloria Dominguez-Bello and Marty Blaser, race to save our vanishing microbes before it’s too late.
The Invisible Extinction joins them on this urgent quest from the USA to Venezuela, China, Israel, and Switzerland, revealing 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.
At the same time, the film tells the stories of three patients, in the USA and China, who suffer from life-threatening diseases triggered by microbial loss and are trying experimental treatments that hold hope. As the Covid-19 pandemic hits, Marty pivots to focus on how our microbes may help protect us from the virus and future pandemics, while Gloria spearheads the creation of an international microbe vault to safeguard precious specimens.
Date: Thursday 27 April 2023
Time: 4:00pm-6:30pm. Light refreshments will be provided from 6.00pm
Venue: TRI Auditorium and Online
RSVP: Register for your ticket in-person or online
About the documentary team
Steven Lawrence (Co-Director/Co-Producer) is an award-winning filmmaker whose work has often focused on the arts and human rights. His producing work includes three films with director Michael Apted, including THE LONG WAY HOME and MARRIED IN AMERICA, a longitudinal doc about 9 couples married in 2001. Other producing credits include THE FURIOUS FORCE OF RHYMES, about hip-hop as protest music around the world, and SARABAH, about a Senegalese rapper’s campaign to end female genital cutting. He co-directed the VIS à VIS interactive documentary series for PBS and most recently co-directed (with Rob Fruchtman) THE CAT RESCUERS about four animal rights activists in Brooklyn. It premiered at the 2018 Hamptons International Film Festival where it won the Zelda Penzel Giving Voice to the Voiceless Award. Subsequently it had a national theatrical release and was picked up by Hulu. Steven’s work has also received an IDA Documentary Achievement award, three Cine Golden Eagles for feature documentary, the Special Jury Award from the Locarno Film Festival and the Golden Butterfly from Movies That Matter.
Sarah Schenck (Co-Director/Co-Producer) is deeply passionate about bringing science to the public. She comes to THE INVISIBLE EXTINCTION with 20 years-experience making award-winning films, including a piece for PBS on childhood obesity in the Bronx, SAVING CARLA. Sarah co-founded the public health video website ParentEarth, and was recognized with an award for Excellence in Public Service for her work with the NYC Comptroller. As a producer she’s been nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature Film (for VIRGIN, starring Elisabeth Moss and Robin Wright), and has also directed videos for Aliados de Amnistia, the Supportive Housing Network, the Park Slope Food Coop, and the NYC public schools. Sarah was a Hepburn Fellow in Media Studies and mentors students from both her alma maters, Bryn Mawr College and Stanford University
Russell Greene (Editor) is a film editor, director, writer and producer based in Brooklyn, NY where he lives with his wife and two children. His more than 20 edited films have appeared in top US and international festivals including Sundance, Venice, Telluride, New York, SXSW, Toronto, Tribeca, IDFA, Full Frame, Edinburgh and Los Angeles, aired on HBO, PBS, Netflix, Hulu and CNN, and screened in theaters worldwide. His past collaborators include directors Sam Pollard, Amy Berg, Fisher Stevens, Nina Rosenblum, Catherine Gund, Lonny Price, Anne Makepeace, Jim Solomon, Kim Snyder and Sophie Huber. Feature film credits as editor include: THE INVISIBLE EXTINCTION (in progress) MAX ROACH: THE DRUM ALSO WALTZES (2021 release date TBD; also credited as a Producer) THE AUTOMAT (2021 release date TBD; also credited as a Producer) AND WE GO GREEN, HAROLD PRINCE: THE DIRECTOR’S LIFE (also credited as a Producer) BLUE NOTE RECORDS: BEYOND THE NOTES, TRIBAL JUSTICE, THE WITNESS (also credited as Writer, Emmy nominated for Best Feature Doc 2018; Academy Award shortlist) FAMOUS NATHAN, HARRY DEAN STANTON: PARTLY FICTION and ORDINARY MIRACLES. Other editorial credits include: THE CASE AGAINST ADNAN SYED, NEWTOWN, WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE?, BEST WORST THING THAT EVER COULD HAVE HAPPENED.
