Dr. Anthony Fauci’s life, work during COVID-19 are PBS film’s focus

LOS ANGELES >> Dr. Anthony Fauci and his tumultuous experience during the COVID-19 pandemic are the focus of a PBS “American Masters” documentary.

The film follows Fauci at home and at work during a 14-month period starting from President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January 2021, PBS announced Wednesday.

“Tony — A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci” is set to debut on the PBS “American Masters” showcase in spring 2023, following a planned release in movie theaters.

It will show “a rarely seen side of the scientist, husband, father and public servant,” Paula Kerger, PBS president and CEO, told a TV critics’ meeting.

Fauci, 81, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said recently that he plans to retire by the end of Biden’s term in January 2025. He has served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and advised seven presidents.

The pandemic represented an unprecedented challenge for Fauci, his work and his reputation despite his years of widely respected public health service. He’s led research in HIV/AIDS, respiratory infections, Ebola, Zika and the coronavirus.

The film follows Fauci “at home, in his office and in the corridors of power as he battles the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the political onslaught that upends his life and calls into question” his long career as the nation’s leading public health advocate, according to the announcement.

Mark Mannucci, who directed the 2019 “American Masters” documentary on the Nobel Prize-winning scientist James Watson, directed and is a producer for the Fauci film.