Director Gwen Isaac intended to fly to Japan to make a film about a Kiwi mixed martial arts fighter in early 2020 — then Covid-19 hit. Instead, she shot a battle of another kind — scientist Dr Siouxsie Wiles trying to convince Kiwis the country should be locked down to keep out Covid-19. Isaac interviewed the pink-haired microbiologist in late March 2020 for this short Loading Docs documentary. Wiles is clearly stressed that the virus could run rampant, but cries with happiness when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a full lockdown. The five week lockdown initially kept NZ Covid-19 free for around 100 days. 

I feel like it’s my job not to switch off, I can’t ignore this.
– Siouxsie Wiles, on her heavy workload since Covid-19 arrived in NZ, Sunday Star-Times, 22 November 2020