Rollout
Introduction
Rollout traces residents of a tight-knit Kenyan community - including Laureen, a mother and immunization nurse - as they face mounting pressure from a government they don’t trust, to get a vaccine they suspect may cause more harm than good.
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Synopsis
Rollout is a journey alongside residents of a tight-knit Kenyan community, as they face mounting pressure from a government they don’t trust, to get a Covid-19 vaccine they fear may cause more harm than good.
The movie is a journey alongside residents of a Kibera, Nairobi - including Laureen, a mother and immunization nurse. Through Rollout, we seek to show a vivid picture of the powerful and complex narratives and lived experiences driving the “shadow pandemic of vaccine hesitancy" which delayed vaccine uptake across communities worldwide, and ultimately stymied humanity’s chance to achieve global herd immunity.
As the rollout efforts expand countywide, Laureen and her fellow healthcare workers visit with vibrant community members - from a church pastor to a radio DJ - who share their perspectives on the vaccination efforts. Through their stories, we feel their visceral mistrust, seemingly sparked by the government’s deeply unpopular and aggressive early pandemic response, and further fueled by a relentless flood of misinformation and conspiracy theories. We explore the deeper historical context that further exacerbates this mistrust, namely the fraught relationship between community members and global health actors, and a global vaccination agenda designed by global institutions that are disconnected from the needs of Kibera's residents.
Reviews
Awards and Screenings
Director Commentary
Features and Languages
Film Features
- Closed Captioning
- Subtitles
Film/Audio Languages
- English
- Kiswahili
Subtitle/Caption Languages
- English
Promotional Material
Promotional Stills
Essential global health efforts, like pandemic response, require an exceptional level of coordination and cooperation to inoculate communities faster than disease can spread. But what happens when communities lose trust in the institutions - and medicines - that are supposed to protect them?
I was motivated to create Rollout because, as a global health director working on the front lines of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, I saw that a missing part of the story was how people in communities actually understood vaccines and the institutions that distribute them. Along with Kristen Schlott, my fellow executive producer, Danny Abel (director), and Kevin Madegwa (producer), we sought to share the perspectives of people rather than the powerful. Good intentions are not enough.