President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his wife Janja Lula da Silva met, this Wednesday afternoon (8), with the directors of the film “When the air is missing”, a documentary that follows the trajectory of women professionals in the de Saúde (SUS) during the year 2020, the first of the covid-19 pandemic. Ana and Helena Petta, who are sisters, were accompanied by the women who star in the film. 
“It is very symbolic and important for president Lula and Janja to receive these health professionals. It is a recognition of the film, but of their work, a way of honoring them”, said Helena Petta after the meeting. The film, which had a preview yesterday (7), in Brasília, with the presence of Janja and other government ministers, will officially premiere in several movie theaters in the country this Thursday (9). Winner of “It’s All True”, the most important documentary festival in Latin America, the film even entered the preliminary dispute to compete for the Oscar 2023.
According to the synopsis, the documentary “addresses the pandemic with an emphasis on care, revealing the human face of the collective fight against covid-19 in interviews with doctors, nurses and community agents”.
Ana Petta, actress and filmmaker, and Helena Petta, infectologist and filmmaker, accompanied the women professionals, who represent more than 70% of the SUS workforce, in five states of the country, from São Paulo to the Amazon.
“We hope that the film can contribute to the construction of this collective memory and that it will help people to definitively understand the grandeur and strength of the SUS”, highlighted Ana Petta. According to her, the president, who has not yet seen the film, was very interested in finding out more about the work of these health professionals.
“He [Lula] He was very curious to understand how the work of the SUS was during the pandemic and how health professionals had to deal with the anti-scientific measures adopted by the previous government, such as the campaign around chloroquine”, said Ana.
