The First Wave: The Human Face of Covid-19
The National Geographic documentary The First Wave captures the harrowing first four months of the Covid-19 pandemic as it played out in one of New York City’s hardest-hit hospital systems.
Joining us is Matthew Heineman, an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker who directed and produced this film.
The incredible footage he obtained and shaped into The First Wave represents a testimony to the strength of the human spirit and how people come together in the face of crisis.
He shares how he gained access to the hospital at the beginning of the crisis, the heroes he filmed, and the inevitable emotional toll the production had on him and his crew.
“I saw an obligation to take this issue that was so relegated to stats, headlines, and misinformation, and try to put a human face to it.” - Matthew Heineman
Time Stamps:
00:00 - The trailer for The First Wave.
04:04 - What the film is about.
05:25 - What motivated Matthew to make the film.
08:18 - How he gained access to the hospital.
10:40 - The uncertainty he had going into this project.
13:14 - How they moved from filming healthcare workers to patients.
18:03 - A clip from the film showing how things escalated at the start of the pandemic.
20:31 - How Matthew incorporated the Black Lives Matter protests into the film.
22:01 - The emotional toll making the documentary had on Matthew and the film crew.
24:56 - The lessons he hopes people will take from this film.
29:11 - The different filmmakers who were involved in the creation of this film.
31:58 - The next projects Matthew is working on.
33:45 - A clip from the film showing the toll the pandemic has had on families.
Resources:
The First Wave (2021)
Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare (2021)
MovieMaker Magazine
Innersound Audio
Alamo Pictures
Connect with Matthew Heineman:
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Transcript for Factual America Episode 81 - The First Wave: The Human Face of Covid-19
Matthew Heineman 00:00
My name is Matthew Heineman. I'm the director of The First Wave.
Speaker 1 00:16
I have to keep it together. I have kids who can't see me fall apart. He has to come home. He has no choice.
Speaker 2 00:23
I just let my fear be my strength because I know, one day, I'm going to be with my wife and my baby.
Speaker 3 00:37
It is because of you that we are going to make it through.
Speaker 4 00:40
You are more than just a doctor. You do it from the heart.
Speaker 5 00:46
Every time you see the COVID patient, you can't help but say, 'Damn, this can easily be my mom.'
Speaker 6 00:54
Each one is getting harder and harder.
Speaker 7 00:56
It's tough to see people constantly have to suffer.
Speaker 8 01:05
When we started chanting...
Crowd 01:08
I Can't Breathe.
Speaker 8 01:09
I literally felt like my breath was stripped away. I also heard all the times my patient said, 'I can't breathe'.
Speaker 9 01:17
We need some help in here, now.
Speaker 10 01:19
Wait, stop [sound of pulse oximeter flatlining]. I have a pulse. I have a pulse, right here, pulse, pulse, pulse.
Speaker 11 01:33
What we've been doing here over the last number of weeks is extraordinary and special. And you are fearful, you are stressed, but you raise the bar each and every day that you get up and come to work.
Speaker 12 01:50
We weren't made for this. But I think this made us.
Speaker 13 01:55
I'm tired of seeing people like you in the hospital. Your family cares about you. You got people who care about you.
Matthew 02:03
That is a trailer from the National Geographic documentary, The First Wave, and this is Factual America. We're brought to you by Alamo Pictures, an Austin and London based production company making documentaries about America for international audiences. I'm your host, Matthew Sherwood. Each week, I watch a hit documentary and then talk with the filmmakers and their subjects. This week, it is my honor to welcome Academy Award nominated, and Emmy winning filmmaker, Matthew Heineman, director and producer of the Nat Geo documentary, The First Wave. The film captures the harrowing first four months of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it played out in one of New York City's hardest hit hospital systems. Matthew and his team embedded with the doctors, nurses, and patients, on the frontlines, battling the biggest crisis to hit the world in our lifetimes. Their incredible film testifies to the strength of the human spirit. But come and find out for yourself as we talk with Matthew Heineman. Matthew, welcome to Factual America. How are things with you?
Matthew Heineman 03:05
Good. Thanks for having me.
Matthew Heineman 03:08
It's a pleasure. The film is The First Wave. A National Geographic doc released theatrically by Neon and now available on Disney Plus. So, congratulations. What an incredible film. But I imagine I'm not the first person to tell you this.
Matthew Heineman 03:29
Well, I appreciate it. Thank you.
Matthew 03:32
For those of our listeners and viewers who haven't had a chance to see this powerful film yet, maybe give us a little synopsis of what is The First Wave all about?
Matthew Heineman 03:45
It is an examination of the first four months of COVID seen through the prism of a brave group of doctors, nurses, and patients, here in New York, at a hospital in Queens.
Matthew 04:02
Okay. And I think - now usually on this show, the first part of the podcast is often spent talking about the film - well, will be talking about the film, obviously, but about characters and sometimes they're biopics, or sometimes they're subjects, people that aren't well known, but I think this will be the first time - I can't imagine there's been a subject where - I can't imagine we have anyone in our audience who hasn't been, obviously, affected or impacted by the pandemic and COVID and we will be talking about the incredible people that you bring to our attention in this film, but in a little bit, but I just wanted to ask you, I mean, it's quite incredible how this project come about. I mean, obviously, you reacted very quickly. Because you're there at almost from the beginning. There in the hospitals in that particular hospital system in New York.
Matthew Heineman 05:05
Yeah, I mean, I think I sort of woke up in early March, and, you know, saw the tsunami that was about to sweep across us and just felt this enormous obligation to take this issue that was so relegated to stats, and headlines, and misinformation, and try to humanize it, to try to put a human face to it. We reached out to hospitals all across the country to get access, and I had a very hard time, you know, basically got rejected everywhere, and then, finally, I got access to a hospital, here in New York, in Queens. And, you know, I think another factor here was, I was just really disgusted about how politicized and polarized this issue was becoming, even in those early days. And I think a huge part of that is that we, as an American public were so shielded from the realities of what was happening; you know, there's a reason that journalism exists, there's a reason why - or, let's go to war zones, and this issue is obviously talked about in wartime terms: front lines, doctors on the front lines. And so, you know, when you look back at Vietnam, when you look at Afghanistan, Iraq, you know, these images that came from there; foreign public discourse that formed public opinion, and without that, in the case of COVID, we're so misinformed. And I think that's a big reason why it became so politicized and why misinformation was allowed to fester. And so, that's another big reason why I, and we, felt this huge obligation and importance of telling the story in the way that we told it.
Matthew 06:49
Yeah, I mean, that's quite incredible. Because as you say, it was just a wave of misinformation. But we just had waves of information - no one knew what to believe, I think, in those early days, in many cases, and I - this is a UK based podcast, but I was in the States, actually; flew in on early March and flew out in sort of late March; was probably on one of the last flights out but, you're right, you remind me, something, the things I forget, I mean, I was even with my parents were part of that, given the various sources they listen to, or watch, and things like that. You just, it was all over the place. So, you were seeing this, but also to know that there was something that needed to be, you know, to get through the haze, I guess, of this misinformation. It's quite incredible. I mean, you said you called around, but, no hospitals? I mean, a lot of documentarians were trying to gain access and very, you know, you're one of the few that managed this. Why did that particular health care system say 'yes' to you? Because everyone else was saying 'no'.
Matthew Heineman 07:57
I think a variety of reasons. I made a film, about a decade ago, about our healthcare system called Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare. One of the main subjects in that film was Dr. Don Berwick, the former head of Medicare and Medicaid under Obama. And I reached out to him as a sort of grasping at straws and trying to get access and, you know, he reached out to the head of Northwell, the largest health care system in New York, where we ended up getting access, and, you know, vouched for me, said that I was a decent human being and it's really that, you know, that introduction that helped open the door, but, you know, trust and access is earned not given. And, obviously, we had to then have many deep, you know, intimate conversations with their leadership to make them comfortable with this process. Heretofore, at that point, other hospital systems mainly said, 'no', but some said, 'yes, but you can, you know, you can talk to doctors on Zoom after the work', which is just not how I make movies and how I wanted to make this film, and so, I walked Northwell and their leadership through my process and I owe so much to them for having the courage to let us in, in the way they let us in.
Matthew 09:31
No, I completely agree. But what did you, I mean, it sounds like an obvious question, but what did you find as you started the film? Did you have any idea what it was going to be like? I mean, you obviously had this previous health care doc you did but - and you document things that even to this day, most of us are unaware of in terms of what people went through either the frontline workers or the patients and families themselves.
Matthew Heineman 10:03
Sorry.
Matthew 10:04
So, I mean, did you have any idea - what you found, when you started filming, did you have any idea that this is what you were going to find when you started filming? You know, the extent, I mean, everyone was in the dark in terms of what COVID was and how it was affecting us.
Matthew Heineman 10:22
No, I mean, we had absolutely no clue where this was all gonna go. I think we naively thought that this would last one or two weeks, and then it would blow over, so we're filming, you know, 16-18 hours a day in those early stages and obviously continued for weeks, and then months...
Matthew Heineman 10:41
... and we're still living with it today. So, again, we had no idea where this story was gonna go. And that's one of the things I love about making docs. It's not, you know, scripting things and not, you know, preordaining where you think this is going to go, but letting the story and letting your subjects in the film, you know, lead you. When I was 21 years old, a mentor of mine said, someone that I looked up to, said, 'If you end up with the story you started with, then you weren't listening along the way', which is good advice for life, is good advice for filmmaking is, you know, be open to the story changing. And that's something that I've held near and dear to my heart at every step along the way. My career, both in a macro-sense, in terms of the films that I've decided to make and where I go, but also in the micro-sense, within each film, and then within each shoot day, you know, like, just dance with the realities of life. And film, every single film, has sort of played out in that way, where I end up with a much different film in the end than I thought I was just making in the beginning.
Matthew 10:41
Right.
Matthew 11:56
Well, and on that point, I mean, your docs are very character driven, and self-described as character driven cinema verite. I mean, how did you manage, because you obviously have to connect with your characters, and you had a very short period of time with which to do that, to identify who are the main characters you're going to be following? And how did you, you know, you've forged such powerful relationships, at least professionally in this regard, with these characters as - because you're focusing in right at the beginning with them. Whereas, I gather, you can correct me if I'm wrong, I gather with some projects you would usually have a little more time with the subjects before you really are getting to the body and meat of the work. Is that a fair description, or a question?
Matthew Heineman 12:53
Yeah, I mean, I think generally, I like, once I get access to whatever story it is, I like to shoot right away, and I think those early, those first couple of days of shooting, always dictate the sort of, the tenor of the relationship between your subjects and the camera. So, I generally like to roll as fast as possible. Because, you know, becoming part of the fabric of the daily lives of your subject is key. And that's what allows you to get this type of access and intimacy with your subjects. And so, the stakes here cannot have been higher. I mean...
Matthew 13:35
Right, right
Matthew 13:35
... that we were filming with, were either on the healthcare side, dealing with the razor thin edge between life and death, and trying to keep people alive and then on the patient side, you know, on that razor thin line constantly, and so, you know, the fact that they were open to being filmed at the most difficult moments in their lives, I owe, and we owe, so much to them for the courage to allow us in.
Matthew 14:07
Yeah. I think that's a very good, important point. I mean, these are some incredible, well, there's everyone in the film, but particularly, what I guess we call the main characters, but, I mean, Dr. Nathalie Douge, I mean, she's absolutely amazing. The Ellis family, Brussels, how do you say her name? "Ja-vone"?
Matthew Heineman 14:30
"Her-bone".
Matthew 14:32
"Her-bone", and her, you know, her family, and what they've been through, Kellie Wunsch, Karl Arabian, I mean, they're all just - so open with their lives and their emotions. Going through this it's quite incredible. And did you, I mean, from the beginning, they were, I hate to put it this way, I don't know how to best put it, but they were very open with you from the very beginning because this is right in March when this is all hitting, this is absolutely amazing what you've been able to document through their lives.
Matthew Heineman 15:18
Yeah, I mean, the rules issued to the hospitals is that we could only focus on healthcare workers. So, for the first week or so we really filmed with - that's when we met Dr. Douge...
Matthew 15:33
Yeah.
Matthew Heineman 15:33
... and then eventually, Kellie, but I think it was after about a week or so that, you know, we show that we are filming with integrity and honesty, hopefully, in a very, very small footprint, you know, we have two person teams, often are just a camera in the room. And so, then, we were sort of given the green light to start talking to patients and their families, and that's when we met Ahmed and Brussels, and started tracking their lives with them in the hospital, and with their families outside the hospital.
Matthew 16:06
Okay. And, I guess, I mean, you obviously have, you know, there's this way to tell this story of - was there ever, did you ever feel like you're gonna have to tell this in a different way than you told it? I mean, I imagine this is just all very heady. You were in the middle of all this, so, it's very heady stuff in terms of trying to know, you know, like you said, you don't know the ending, but not even knowing the middle, or barely knowing the beginning.
Matthew Heineman 16:43
Yeah, we knew nothing. We had no idea where this is all... if you had told me in early March that this film would include protests about systemic racism, you know, months later, I would say, you know, I don't know that - that's not part of - that doesn't make any sense. But that's exactly the story we ended up telling, it's all intricately tied together.
Matthew 17:07
We'll be right back with Matthew Heineman, the director of The First Wave, released theatrically by Neon. It's had its broadcast debut. You can find it on Hulu in the States, also on Disney Plus here in the UK. And I know it's been released internationally.
Factual America midroll 17:25
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Dr Nathalie Douge 17:44
All righty, I'm back. I'm Dr. Douge, okay. So, I'm going to be in charge of your care while you're here.
Dr Nathalie Douge 17:53
Last week, there were, like, maybe one, two, three patients that we kind of heard about, like whispered about.
Dr Nathalie Douge 18:02
They're telling me you're not needing as much oxygen as you did before.
Dr Nathalie Douge 18:06
Is this a COVID patient? Is this not a COVID patient?
Dr Nathalie Douge 18:09
The infection kind of went into his bone.
Dr Nathalie Douge 18:13
And now, I have a list where pretty much all of the patients have COVID-19. It's such a crazy, scary feeling.
Speaker 1 18:23
Guys, we're going to pause for a pulse check.
Speaker 2 18:31
Wait. Stop. I have a pulse. I have a pulse right here. Pulse, pulse, pulse, pulse.
Dr Nathalie Douge 18:37
This is a problem. It's new. That is the worst thing in that sense. We are taught pattern recognition. And as of right now, there's no clear pattern.
Matthew 18:51
Welcome back to Factual America. I'm here with award winning director Matthew Heineman. His film is The First Wave. It's been released theatrically, it's also had its broadcast debut internationally. As we were talking before the break, Matthew, this, like all great docs, it's got many storylines, and it's certainly not just about COVID-19. And going in, you certainly did not expect to know that you're going to be capturing Black Lives Matter protests and all these sort of forces that, I shouldn't say unleashed by the pandemic, but the pandemic sort of accelerates trends and movements and things like that, but you - I mean, you had no inkling this was about to happen. And you're following Dr. Douge, obviously, and is that something that she - obviously, she felt very strongly and you're capturing a lot of things related to it in your filming even in the hospitals. That was just a natural pivot on your part, wasn't it? I mean, these things started happening. And you follow the story.
Matthew Heineman 20:11
Yeah, I mean, you didn't need to be a researcher, epidemiologist or scientist to see what was happening, you just needed to walk through the, you know, hallways of an ICU, in the hospital to see that this disease was disproportionately impacting people of color.
Matthew 20:28
Yeah.
Matthew Heineman 20:29
It was very clear. And so, it wasn't really a question of, if we were going to include that in the film, it was a question of how and it all just came out naturally. Follow various participants in the film, and then, you know, when George Floyd was killed, and we had this sort of reckoning over systemic racism in our country, and frankly, around the world. that was obviously intricately tied to this disproportionate impact. And again, we just follow where the story took us. And we follow Dr. Douge, out into the streets.
Matthew 21:02
Yeah, and there's some incredible scenes there as well. And your film, also documents this toil that's taken on healthcare workers and families, too, and there's these many heartbreaking scenes, but, as filmmakers, I mean, how did you and the crew cope with this? Because you're being confronted with, besides these uplifting stories that you do document, you know, very heartbreaking stories all at the same time, did that take a toll on you and your team?
Matthew Heineman 21:40
Yeah, I mean, it was, it was definitely the hardest film I've ever made. You know, I've been in war zones around the world, and I've told difficult stories. By far the hardest. When you're in a war zone, there's sort of spurts of terror and danger, but there's a lot of boredom, too. And then, when you come home, you can sort of separate your brain a bit, from all that is happening. With The First Wave and making The First Wave, you know, we're living the same thing that we're documenting. It was a very, very full-on experience, for a long period of time, you could never turn off. And that was hard, you know, all the things you take for granted in making documentary, putting a Lav mic on somebody's shirt...
Matthew 21:42
Yeah.
Matthew Heineman 21:58
... putting the camera down on a table, eating; going to the bathroom, breathing; these are all ways to get the virus, these are all ways to spread the virus. And so, you know, you always had to be vigilant, you could never stop being vigilant, you can never turn off. And so, that definitely took a toll over time. But I think, and I can speak on behalf of the amazing team that worked on this, as well as myself, we were deeply inspired by what we were seeing every day, despite the horror of it all, despite the sadness, despite the death. I think we were inspired by the wonderful acts of humanity and love and care and courage and fortitude that we witnessed, day in and day out. And so, I didn't go to bed at night feeling sad about the state of the world, despite the fact that there was a lot to be sad and scared about. I went to bed at night feeling really inspired by what we're witnessing. And I think if I was going to distill the film down to one thing, it's about how human beings come together in the face of crisis. And that was a really beautiful thing to witness.
Matthew 23:42
Yeah. And, I guess, and also, you know, this is something that we're continuing to witness, isn't it? I mean, here we are, we've now been through a few variants even way back when some of the people in the film are talking about second and third waves likely to come and they have indeed, come and gone, and now we've got potentially another one. So, this is a story that's still playing out. And, you know, I know you'd say you went - in terms of the legacy of this film, you would want it to - the film speaks for itself, but what lessons do you want us to learn from this film about this virus and issues that we are still fighting now?
Matthew Heineman 24:31
I guess on one basic level that this is real, despite... that many people don't believe it's real; again, it's just so sad to me how polarized this issue's become, and how it's really a virus, a pandemic of the unvaccinated at this point, and both globally in the disparities with which vaccines have been disseminated, and then with also within our own country of just the misinformation and the echo chambers that we all live in. And the fact that predominantly those who die in hospitals in the US, at least, are the unvaccinated. And so, I hope that this film not only shows the realities in an apolitical way, there's no Trump in my film, there's no Dr. Fauci; I really tried to take away the politics and just show the human beings at the center of it, and how they were affected, and the realities of all that. So, I hope that the film can provide a vehicle through which we can reflect on all that we've been through. And what have we learned? What have we learned as a society? What have we learned as individuals? And how can we apply that knowledge to where we are now? And where we go in the future?
Matthew 26:02
Yeah, well I think that's a, I think that's a very good point. And even someone like - I will say, daresay, even someone like myself - now more than a year and a half, almost two years on with vaccinations, and now boosters and stuff, we kind of lose sight of not only what those early days were like, but what things are still like in many parts of the world, as I think you rightly point out, there is quite a disparity in terms of the vaccine equality between the, certainly the developed world, and the rest of the world for the most part. One that would probably never - that gap's never going to, unfortunately, it doesn't - not in the short term, is going to be narrowed. And people I know, in all parts of the world say that they don't even know how they would deal with another wave at this stage...
Matthew Heineman 26:57
Sorry to interrupt, but that's human nature, you know, we all want to move on, you know, we all want to forget about this thing, but we can't, you know, we're all still living with it, whether we like it or not. And I think it's an important thing to see. And that's what I hope that this film can do is remind people, the realities of how this affects, you know, families, communities, individuals.
Matthew 27:25
And well, I know if anyone sees it they will, you know, I think it certainly does that. And as you said, it's - and you have to say this because of being in the US - but it is not politicized. In my ham fisted way of putting it it's a very, what you see is what you get. It's indeed what's happened. And it is quite, as you say, it's heartbreaking and uplifting all at the same time. So, so thank you. I think we're starting to come towards the end of our time together, Matthew, but I just want to ask you a few more questions, if I may. Besides, just watching the film and having seen the credits, I mean, besides the heroes, you document and many other people you give thanks and acknowledgments to, there's also a few - I only watched it through the credits once but there's quite a list of who's who of people that you acknowledge in there as well, I think. I think Chris Hegedus and Stanley Tucci, and I think Alex Gibney, am I right? Is he an executive producer on this? Could you say a few things about how they've helped out with this film? And what debt of gratitude you owe them?
Matthew Heineman 28:51
Yeah, I mean, enormous. This film was an absolute, massive collaboration between a lot of, you know, really smart, dedicated filmmakers. You know, Alex was on board officially as an EP and did so much to help get this film off the ground and provided feedback along the way. I owe so much to him. You know, Chris is a dear friend and provided, you know, numerous rounds of notes and watched a bunch of different cuts. You know, and as did a lot of people, you know, and I like to over screen my film to the chagrin of my editors, and so, you know, we - yeah, we screened this film for lots of different people and got, you know, feedback from friends, from, you know, focus groups that we pulled together from around the country. I really wanted to see how this film was impacting people emotionally and viscerally. Every single frame, every single moment, every single sound, every single pixel was deliberated on, was argued about, was contemplated. You know, I think we, not to sound self-important, but I think we knew that the access we had was unique. And we knew that this would be one of the documents, historical documents, of this time, and I and we felt an enormous weight with that, an enormous pressure with that. And so, I didn't want to screw it up, I didn't want to get it wrong. I wanted to do the best job we could to create this historical document.
Matthew 30:32
And is that an approach you take to all your films? All your documentaries pretty much?
Matthew Heineman 30:38
Yeah, I do. I'm very detail oriented. I work really hard, I think. I push people really hard. But I, and I feel really lucky to do what I do. I feel it's a huge privilege to be able to tell stories. But I think this film, more than ever, is the film that I'm most proud of, and it's the film that I felt, yeah, the deepest responsibility with, just because it's something that's affected every single human being on this earth. We've all been changed forever by it. I wanted to, yeah, get it right.
Matthew 31:20
And what's next for you? You've had amazing success with both documentary and narrative. You did Private War, and that won many acclaims and awards. But what's next on for you, if you can even look ahead beyond this film?
Matthew Heineman 31:38
Yeah, I mean, I hope to keep telling stories of, you know. I was in Afghanistan this past summer. I'm making a doc about the end of the war. And I've a few fiction projects that I'm working on, too. And, yeah, just excited to keep telling stories as the sun reflected on me!
Matthew 32:03
As if it was cued! I hope you don't mind us - I mean, it's been a pleasure having you on, and the discussion's been more focused in some ways, I think as you notice on the filmmaking of this, and that's part of what we do here in the podcast, but it's not because I want to make light or didn't want to discuss the subject matter. I think it's one of those films where I think it's - not that it should be unsaid, but I just think people need to see it. And we don't, you know, I think that's the best way to highlight this film for our listeners is just to say, do go see it wherever you can, because I think it's, for me, personally is amazing piece of filmmaking, and I think it achieves a lot of what you said you were hoping to achieve with this film. So, Matthew, thank you so much for joining us. It's very much appreciated. The film is The First Wave, it's been released theatrically and it's - you can find it on Hulu in the States, and I know it's on Disney Plus in other places, including here in the UK where we are based. So, Matthew, thank you again for joining us, we'd love to have you again, sometime.
Matthew Heineman 33:22
Thanks. Thanks for having me. Thanks for taking the time.
Speaker 1 33:32
You okay?
Speaker 2 33:33
I'm okay. Very nervous.
Speaker 2 33:36
Yeah, I haven't seen him in a whole month.
Speaker 1 33:36
You're nervous?
Speaker 2 34:00
Hi, baby. Austin drew you a picture. It says 'Love, Austin'. Ava's so big now. She has two teeth. And she tries to steal all of Austin's toys. Ahmed, you hear me? Can you squeeze my hand? Yeah. Oh gosh. I love you, baby. I love you so much. I have to go soon, okay? You're so close to being home, okay? You're so close.
Matthew 35:25
I'd also like to give a shout out to Sam and Joe at Innersound Audio in Escrick, England. A big thanks to Nevena Paunovic, our podcast manager at Alamo Pictures, who ensures we continue getting such great guests onto the show. Finally, a big thanks to our listeners. As always, we love to hear from you. So, please keep sending us feedback and episode ideas, whether it is on YouTube, social media, or directly by email. And please remember to like us and share us with your friends and family wherever you happen to listen or watch podcasts. This is Factual America, signing off.
Factual America Outro 36:01
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