Ben Bohane

In March, the Australia Pacific Security College (PSC) will release a one-hour documentary film called Pacific Lockdown offering a unique insight into how people and communities across the Pacific islands are dealing with closed borders and life under “covid normal” over the past year.

Covid19 presents one of the biggest human security issues of our time while the Pacific Humanitarian Corridor is already engaged in a substantial logistical exercise even before the planned vaccine rollout ahead.

Last year we commissioned four video diarists to give a personal account of living in these strange times – the challenges and positives – and how they are all building resilience to get through it.

One of the paradoxes of closed borders, as some reflect, is how it is both keeping families and communities apart but also bringing them closer together like never before, to appreciate what they have. Through the film we get a Pacific perspective on their fears and hopes, and how they are staying positive.

The film brings data compiled by the PSC and expert analysis by health officials in the region to explain how well the region has fared so far, and what lies ahead in 2021 as nations begin planning for vaccine rollout.

While some Pacific territories have faced serious outbreaks of Covid19, there are at least half a dozen Pacific nations who remain the last countries on earth with no infections and are the envy of the world.

This is the remarkable story of people across the islands dealing with perhaps the biggest disruption in their lives, as well as the health and geopolitical impacts of the most serious pandemic in a century.

Covid19 is not the first – or last – pandemic to affect the Pacific islands. What are the lessons? Will life ever be the same again?

Pacific Lockdown takes us on a journey across our vast ocean continent during these challenging times. It will be made available free to any Pacific island public broadcasters wishing to screen it in their home countries.

For more information on the film and distribution please contact ben.bohane@anu.edu.au