How Matthew Heineman’s COVID Doc ‘First Wave’ Evolved During an ‘Exhausting and Terrifying’ Production
Addie Morfoot ContributorIn March 2020, just after New York City shut down due to COVID-19, Matthew Heineman picked up his camera and embedded with a group of healthcare workers at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens. For the next three months, the director and a skeleton crew captured doctors, nurses, and medical technicians as they battled to keep COVID patients alive and the virus at bay at one of the country’s hardest-hit hospitals.The result of Heineman’s efforts is “The First Wave” – a documentary that will have its world premiere and serve as the opening night film at the 29th Hamptons Intl.