A film created by Emworth film production agency, Millstream Productions, was played in London at the Reflections event where the infected and affected gathered to mark the close of the Infected Blood Inquiry and the publishing of the Inquiry’s report.

In collaboration with Hunter Gatherer, Millstream Productions were honoured to be asked to create a film that represented the estimated 30,000 people infected. The film played 12 voices of individuals who had either received infected blood or blood products themselves or lost a loved one as a direct result, and the impact it has had on their lives.

On Monday 20th May 2024, 1,500 people came together including those who are leading the Infected Blood Inquiry, Sir Brian Langstaff (Chair of the Inquiry), UK politicians, campaigners, journalists and the families of those infected. The event took place at Central Hall Westminster where the film was played, along with music, readings and additional video content.

The event, featured on BBC News and Sky News among others, and was broadcast live on the Inquiry’s YouTube channel, aimed to raise awareness of the devastation that administering infected blood and infected blood products has caused, and continues to cause, to thousands of families around the UK.

The Inquiry is an independent public statutory Inquiry established to examine the circumstances in which men, women and children treated by National Health Services in the United Kingdom were given infected blood and infected blood products, in particular since 1970.

Dan Musty, Community Producer at Millstream Productions, said:

“Making this film is a huge honour for us. Trawling through the Inquiry interviews from those living with conditions caused by infected blood has been very emotional and it was important that we represented the individuals, including those now deceased, in a sensitive way. I wanted to portray the sense that this could have been any one of us in the UK who were infected or affected. These individuals are heroes who have continued to fight, despite the barriers put up by the UK Government, over many years and are battling the effects of living with infected blood on a daily basis.” 

Art Lewry, Director of Hunter Gatherer, said:

“The creation of the Reflections event required the bringing together of some of the best creative talents in the UK, all of whom needed to be sensitive to what is an extremely challenging subject.  Having worked with the team at Millstream numerous times and knowing how fantastic they are at crafting video to tell human stories, I had no doubt they would deliver a powerful film in“Testimonies”. It’s incredibly moving.”