“Family, friends, health, passions, going to church, taking a walk on the beach… none of us imagin-ing that some day it could all be ripped away.”
‘Six Feet of Separation’ is a world view of the pandemic, through the eyes of Dee Wallace (‘ET’, ‘Cujo’, ‘The Howling’), Kevin Sorbo (‘Hercules: The Legendary Journeys’, ‘Andromeda’, ‘Soul Surf-er’) and a host of people in India, Italy, the United States, Greece, and Brazil, as they grapple with the loneliness of quarantine and the fear of losing everything they have.
The makers of this feature-length documentary wanted to help viewers pay attention to what is happening. This extraordinary situation is not just in one country; it spans the entire world. There are many in the United States who believe the lockdowns are related to some type of government con-spiracy, but in this documentary we hear from people in different countries about what they are all going through, and from some who truly believe it is the ‘end times’.
We also get to hear from New York City ICU nurse Maggie Theonnes, who describes in startling detail the experience of treating victims of Covid-19 and what they go through. She says: “In all my years of nursing, I’ve never seen people so sick.”
A human rights activist in India talks about the racism she has faced as people around her have been scared of the ‘China virus’. She explains how she has learned to deal with discrimination in a way that helps others.
The documentary’s narrators are actress Dee Wallace, best known for playing Elliott’s mother in ‘ET’, who now works as a healer; she gives wonderful advice in the film on how to cope with the stress and fear of lockdown. Another familiar voice is Kevin Sorbo, who starred as Hercules in ‘Hercules: The Legendary Journeys’. The film also stars TV host Arlene Barshinger.
‘Six Feet of Separation’ received a nomination for Best Documentary at the 2020 British Film Festi-val; the film-makers are waiting to hear if it receives more accolades. The audience feedback at screenings is that viewers love the way that the documentary explores both sides of the pandemic: the back-to-work protests vs ongoing lockdowns; masks vs no masks; government conspiracies vs ‘this could be the end of the world if we’re not careful’. The documentary does not take a political side or a hard line about the pandemic, it simply examines everyone’s individual feelings about it.
One line from the film is: “War among friends, war against each other and war between church and state. That’s what the coronavirus does, it divides us all. And there will be consequences from every action we take.”
But this documentary aims to unite people in humanity. 2020 has seen such a shocking and radical change to our lives, with no clear end in sight – sometimes it can help a stressful situation to sit down and listen to someone else’s story for a while.
‘Six Feet of Separation’ is Shawnda Christiansen’s directorial debut; she also produced the film. Christiansen is a Californian writer and producer, and her credits include the ‘Junkie’ series, ‘Slayer Chronicles’, ‘Subject Unknown’, and the book series ‘Miles To Go’.
Go to the website www.megareelentertainment.com for all announcements on additional ways to watch the documentary, as it continues to be released in more places.
The DVD came out on 13 October on Amazon, with major retailers and additional countries to fol-low. On Demand streaming is available worldwide on Vimeo. It was also premiering on American Film Market’s On Demand Theater, 4 November.
