‘When Science Is Censored’: New Film Looks at the Fallout of Public Health Lockdown Orders

A man crosses an empty street in downtown Montreal during nationwide lockdowns at the beginning of the pandemic, on April 5, 2020. The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes

A new documentary is taking a deeper look at the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact lockdowns had on Canadian society, and the resulting fallout from public health restrictions.

“COVID Collateral,” which will debut at a Toronto Theatre in May, looks at the response of both the government and society to the virus.

“As I was living through COVID, especially in early 2020, I said to myself something doesn’t make sense here,” Toronto producer, writer, and director Vanessa Dylyn told The Epoch Times in an interview.

“I saw a lot of suffering and, like many people, I witnessed restrictions on people that made no sense to me, such as small business owners being driven bankrupt while the big box stores stayed open.”

Ms. Dylyn said she also questioned why liquor stores remained open but places like churches, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and gyms were forced to close.

“There was an entire class of people that I felt, as I was living through this, that bore disproportionately the burden of this pandemic. I saw small business people going bankrupt losing their livelihoods. There was a whole class of people, lower-income people, who didn’t get paid unless they showed up,” she said, adding that some people were able to work from home and navigate having kids home from school, but others paid a higher price.

‘Most Inhuman Act’

Ms Dylyn said one of the worst elements of the lockdowns was that elderly and terminally people were left to die without family at their side.

“There was one thing that deeply rattled me, and that was that we forced elderly people and terminally ill people to die alone,” she said.

“If you can imagine not feeling the touch of your daughter or your son’s hand as you’re dying, no comforting words,” she added. “We forced people to stay say goodbye to their loved ones through a window or an iPad. I thought this was the cruellest, most inhuman act committed during COVID.”

Vanessa Dylyn, writer, director, and producer of "COVID Collateral."  Courtesy of Coronavan Productions Inc.

The documentary looks at scientists who spoke out against the lockdowns and were silenced. It also examines ignored treatments and evidence, including the possible use of anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin and a study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology that found only 0.17 percent of those infected with the virus died. Public health experts were saying the rate was closer to 3 percent at the time.

Former Ontario MPP Roman Baber was interviewed for the movie and discussed how swiftly he was removed from his position after publicly calling for an end to the lockdown in 2021.

After Premier Doug Ford kicked Mr. Baber out of the Progressive Conservative government, he sat as an Independent in the provincial legislature, and didn’t seek re-election in 2022.  He has since become a federal Conservative Party candidate seeking election as an MP in the next federal election.

Ms. Dylyn’s film also delves into documents and leaked emails as well as research that was suppressed by public health authorities about the origins of the virus, and why the information was not being shared.

She said she saw things start to turn around after Twitter began releasing emails that showed the U.S. government was pressuring social media to censor dissenting views.

“When Elon Musk took over Twitter and he had a lot of these emails showing collusion between Fauci [Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases] and his group of scientists,” she said.

“[They] showed collusion between the Biden administration and Twitter and Facebook to shut down dissenting scientific views when all of these things actually came out in black and white.”

‘Lonely Project’

Bringing her idea to life proved to be a major challenge, Ms. Dylyn says.

“I started writing up a proposal about this theme of the politicization of science or suppression of science during COVID,” she said. “I sent the proposal across to all of the broadcasters who knew me … and there was just silence. It was as if this project was radioactive.”

The filmmaker said it was difficult to get anyone to support the project, except for a core group of people who had a passion to tell the story.

“I went through the most isolating, the most discouraging period of my entire professional life. It was a brutal and gruelling experience,” she said. “It was just a very lonely project.”

However, she said it is her goal to make films that reach people on important issues.

“The general public has heard bits and pieces of this story that I have in the film, but I believe this is the first film that actually looks at this theme of what happens when science is censored in a free society.”

She said she is surprised at the level of distrust in public institutions that has materialized since the pandemic.

“The public knows or senses that it has been lied to on a number of levels. I think they are not as willing to be as compliant as they were,” she said.

“I think these institutions, whether they’re government, whether it’s medical institutions, whether it’s educational institutions, all of these institutions are going to have to work very hard to regain public trust.”

‘Open Dialogue’

Ms. Dylyn said that she hopes her film will get people talking about what happened during the pandemic.

“I think we have to have an honest dialogue. I hope the film will help this because the film is not a condemnation. The film is not saying this side was right, this side was wrong,” she explained. “The film is simply telling us what happened through the lens of the suppression of science, through the voices of pretty big scientists and people in the U.S. and Canada who are experts in this area.”

She said she hopes to kickstart a process where thoughtful people on both sides of the political spectrum can talk to each other.

“I think the film is a kind of warning also because we know that the World Health Organization has an international pandemic plan in place that it wants countries to sign up to,” she said.

“This is something that has to be dealt with very carefully. The film asks the question, have we learned anything? How do we move forward? So I think the film opens that dialogue.”

“COVID Collateral” is set to screen for the first time at Toronto’s Isabel Bader Theatre on May 9. The VIP reception starts at 6 p.m. and the screening will begin at 7 p.m.

Following the screening, there will be a panel discussion of experts, including Ms. Dylyn, Dr. Rochagné Kilian (former emergency room physician), Bruce Pardy (executive director of Rights Probe and law professor at Queens University), and Dr. Jennifer Hibberd (founder of the Canadian Covid Care Alliance and director on the board of the Canada Heath Alliance). The discussion will conclude with a question and answer period.

Tickets can be purchased online at  www.covidcollateral.com or Eventbrite.