''Every Last Child'' (2014) is a Pakistani and

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documentary film directed and produced by Tom Roberts and made under the Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ banner. Roberts also wrote the story of the film. The film was released in three different languages—

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, English and

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

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 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

(polio) infection from the country. Polio, which had almost been eradicated from the world, showed resurgence in Pakistan after the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

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

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 (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

with intent to eliminate

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. 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 (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

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 ''

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'' 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.

References

External links

* * {{Eradication of infectious disease 2014 documentary films 2014 films Documentary films about health care Documentary films about Pakistan Pashto-language films Works about polio 2010s Urdu-language films Documentary films about children with disabilities Healthcare in Pakistan Vaccine controversies Urdu-language Pakistani films