Events news

Premiere of the Documentary “Breathe, Mom”

This Thursday, May 9, the documentary premieres “Breathe, mom”, a magnificent work by Meri Collazos Sola and Joan López Lloret, documentary filmmakers and parents of a girl who was born with Alpha-1 (a rare disease that mainly affects the lungs and liver). The premiere will take place within the framework of the 27th Barcelona International Documentary Film Festival.

 

 

Synopsis

In 2013, Meri gave birth to Nina, a girl with Alpha-1, a genetic abnormality that makes her vulnerable to lung diseases and exposes her to the risk of the invisible threat of polluted air in cities like Barcelona.

Meri searches for answers and meets with experts and families who, like her, advocate for clean air for their children. Her unexpected findings coexist with the harsh realities of daily life that must change for the benefit of all.

Set against a backdrop of the effects of Dieselgate, the discovery of CRISPR gene editing, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the documentary questions: is there any hope for a better future for our children?

 

Director's Note

One day, my daughter caught me crying as I sat in my office. I had just received news of a friend’s death from lung cancer. At just over four years old, she wiped away my tears and comforted me with a sweet plea: “Breathe, Mom.” This phrase has stayed with me ever since. Just stop and breathe.

Albert Einstein used to say that if he had an hour to solve the world's problems, he would spend 55 minutes analyzing the problems to arrive at an accurate diagnosis, and once the causes were discovered, he would spend the remaining 5 minutes finding a solution.

This documentary takes on this task from my own personal experience. It began accidentally, with the signs of an illness and the search for its causes, I discovered the need and the right that we all have to breathe healthy air.

“Breathe, Mom” is narrated from a mother’s perspective, beginning with pregnancy, since the first environment we encounter as human beings is our mother’s body.

I would like to dedicate it to my daughters' generations, who will have to face the contradictions of progress and the great ethical challenges that this imposes on us as humans. This documentary is intended to contribute to the necessary awareness in our society so that we can change things for the better.

Meri Collazos Sola

Know more the documentary

 

Lovexair and “Breathe, Mom”

At Lovexair we have contributed our grain of sand to this documentary. We met Meri and Joan in 2017 and a very committed relationship was born between us to carry out this important work, which evaluates the conflicts that we experience in society, especially mothers, to protect our sons and daughters from the harmful impact of climate change, especially those who live with a respiratory disease.

Both Shane Fitch - Founder and President of the Lovexair Foundation - and Arran Strong - a young person with Alpha-1 and Ambassador of the Foundation - participate in the documentary, contributing with their own experiences to give visibility to this topic, which is currently among the priorities of the World Health Organization.