On Tuesday, August 11, FRONTLINE broadcast Love, Life and the Virus, which chronicles the struggle of a 30-year-old mother named Zully for COVID and seeing her newborn, after giving birth with a ventilator and spending nearly 3 weeks in a coma. – since her husband, Marvin, and her eldest son, Junior, also fought the virus.
Now, in collaboration with Univision, on Sunday, August 16 at 7/6 am, a Spanish edition of Love, Life and the Virus will be broadcast on the well-known news program Here and Now. There will also be a Spanish edition for streaming on pbs.org/frontline, the PBS and YouTube video app the following week.
Director Oscar Guerra, Love, Life – the Virus tells how, at the time of the crisis in the circle of relatives of Guatemalan immigrants, his network in Stamford, CT, intervened to help. Just before giving birth and falling into a coma, and having nowhere to go, Zully contacted her eldest son’s English teacher, Luciana Lira, an immigrant herself, who would eventually welcome the newborn as the family circle recovered.
“As a director, I feel very fortunate to have a documentary broadcast on prestigious systems like FRONTLINE and Here and Now. The availability of this story in English and Spanish not only opens doors, but also connects the world at a time when we all want to be closer than ever,” says director Oscar Guerra.
The film continues the fight as Zully recovers, leaves the hospital and, while she, Marvin and Junior await negative evidence of COVID, means Neysel can safely return home. With ordinary access to the physical care professionals who cared for Zully and her baby, and those around her throughout the process, the film is a heartbreaking and comforting look at finding a family to reunite, and the network members who helped make this possible.
“Maybe if I’d been in Guatemala,” Zully says, “I probably wouldn’t have stepped forward and I wouldn’t have told that story.”
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