15 Days: The Real Story of America's Pandemic School Closures

An informative and shocking documentary about the overlong closing of schools in the United States during the COVID-19 Pandemic and its consequences, directed by Natalya Murakhver.

Following the closure of schools across the U.S. due to this global outbreak, during the first quarter of 2020, mother Murakhver joined thousands of other parents in an effort to reopen them. This led to her making this feature-length documentary, which she also presents. The title refers to the government's initial statement that American schools will be closed for fifteen days in the hope of preventing the virus from spreading, which resulted in educational institutions being closed for much longer.

Through archival footage of news reports and interviews, this film discloses the struggles that children and people in general faced because of schools being closed and seeks answers regarding why it took so long for schools to reopen again. There is plenty of footage of politicians giving speeches, including Donald Trump and some of the interviewees include radiologist, political commentator and health care policy advisor Dr Scott Atlas, Jay Bhattacharya, Professor of Health Policy, Psychologist Nicholas Kardaras and Professor of Medicine Monica Gandhi.

This feature explores how the lockdown affected the children and their relatives by having interviews of multiple families across the U.S., who share their experiences during the time the schools were closed. What they state is that they found online learning ineffective, with teachers being inefficient and many families not owning computers.

Several of the government's flaws are pointed out regarding the decision to keep schools closed and one is that it is indicated that certain people in influential positions decided to take advantage of the lockdown in favour of a variety of reasons, including the promotion of technology, such as virtual learning. The film further condemns the refusal to let children attend school by referencing the way things were handled during the Spanish Flu and the protests that occurred following the death of George Floyd. The actions of the American Federation of Teachers are also questioned. Furthermore, it is disclosed that other countries had schools reopened much earlier.

This documentary aims to criticise the American government's decision to keep schools closed during this pandemic and to reveal the negative effects this had on the students and their relatives and it does so quite dramatically.