EXCLUSIVE: Ishrat Rahim is one of the valiant health workers in Pakistan trying to eradicate polio from the country. That noble endeavor is putting her life at risk.

The short documentary Shadows in Sunlight explores the danger Ishrat and colleagues face as they attempt to distribute the polio vaccine in an environment where misinformation and wild rumors turn them into targets. Today, the Documentary+ streaming service announced it has acquired the documentary and will premiere it as a Documentary+ Original this Friday (July 17). In a release, Doc+ calls the film directed by Ruhi Hamid “an urgent, intimate portrait of courage on the front lines of one of the world’s last great public health battles.”

We have your first look at the film in the trailer below.

The documentary, which debuted last August at the HollyShorts Film Festival, follows Ishrat in Peshwar, Northwest Pakistan, where she “begins each day surrounded by armed security guards — her protection as she and her female colleagues embark on a mission to vaccinate the country’s children against polio,” according to a synopsis. “Navigating deep-seated cultural and religious suspicion, Ishrat faces relentless refusals at every door, all while living under the constant shadow of violence that has claimed the lives of more than 200 of her fellow health workers.”

Shadows in Sunlight “brings this extraordinary human story to a global audience for the first time,” notes a release, “capturing both the heroism of individuals like Ishrat and the systemic challenges confronting the worldwide effort to eradicate polio once and for all.”

The film is a collaboration between Nobel Prize Outreach and Grain Media (producer of the Academy Award-winning shorts The White Helmets and Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone), with support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

“Shadows in Sunlight is exactly the kind of film Documentary+ exists to bring to the world – a story of breathtaking personal bravery set against one of the defining public health crises of our time,” commented Documentary+ CEO Geoff Clark. “Ishrat’s courage is humbling, and Ruhi’s filmmaking ensures her story is told with the depth, nuance, and humanity it deserves. We are proud to partner with the Nobel Prize Outreach and Grain Media to give this film the global platform it demands.”

Director Ruhi Hamid said in a statement, “I’d been wanting to make a film about these extraordinary women in Pakistan for years and was overjoyed when I got the opportunity to partner with the Nobel Prize Outreach on this project. These women walk into danger every single day armed with nothing but vaccines and an unshakeable belief in what they are doing. I hope this film gives audiences around the world a window into their extraordinary lives — and the urgency of the mission they carry.”

Shadows in Sunlight joins a list of original titles on Documentary+ that include The Price of Milk, A Man With Sole: The Impact of Kenneth Cole, Still Single, THC, Inc, The Spiritual Advisor, The Power of Pickleball, Comedy Against the Odds, The Hobby, Charm Circle, and Oscar-shortlisted A Swim Lesson, among many others.

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