Collective            4 ½ stars

The Romanian documentary Collective is a rare achievement in filmmaking, the filming of an investigation into a scandal while the investigation is unfolding. The film starts with a tragic fire at a night club in Bucharest in 2015 where 27 young people were killed. The scandal occurs later though when it is discovered that the burn victims being treated in the hospitals are dying from bacterial infections at an alarming rate. The investigation being run by a sports magazine called The Sports Gazette, finds that the disinfectant being used in operating rooms has been diluted by a factor of ten rendering it ineffective at killing bacteria. The publication and the journalist, Catalin Tolontan create a sensation when they reveal the company supplying the diluted disinfectant, and the fact that the company supplies the disinfectant used in hospitals throughout Romania. This well constructed documentary goes on to show the extreme levels of corruption that has infested the Romanian government and the health care industry. This is an industry that rewards people connected to the ruling political party with management positions in the hospitals, where they are free to line their pockets at the expense of public safety and abuse the health system employees. We even see the Romanian Health Minister giving a news conference where he assures the press that everything is fine with the disinfectant and that tests show that it is effective, a story that the press is not buying. The Minister is soon forced to resign. It’s an amazing story about a little sports magazine willing to take on a story that the larger media organizations stayed away from, even under threat of retaliation from a group of mobsters. The movie was nominated for Academy Awards for both Best Documentary and Best Foreign Film and it is well worth your while to check out.