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A Billion Lives is a 2016 documentary film directed and narrated by Aaron Biebert. The film stars Clive Bates, Delon Human, and Oliver Kershaw. The film follows the e-cigarette and vaping revolution pitted against the corruption and politics in the tobacco industry. The film points to major current concerns such as Big Pharma, Big Government, and Big Tobacco as areas of contention for the vaping industry. It also explores various aspects of the interactions of media, culture, and perspective on the aforementioned businesses.

Synopsis
As the film begins, viewers are confronted by a claim that “This century a billion people are projected to die from smoking”. The film continues to show the depth of harm tobacco can cause to human health, including increased risk of lung cancer, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A Billion Lives continues by outlining the history of the tobacco industry, focusing primarily on tobacco corporations’ attempts to hide the deleterious effects of tobacco and tobacco products. Many shots are accompanied and framed with interviews of the former Winston Man, David Goerlitz. David Goerlitz, formerly the main model in a campaign by Winston Cigarettes to glamorize smoking, publicly denounced the tobacco industry in the late 1980s.

The second segment of the film shifts focus from the tobacco industry to the e-cigarette and vaping industry. Showcasing interviews and talks by Dr. Derek Yach, a former World Health Organization tobacco control chief, Clive Bates, a prominent anti-smoking activist, and many other experts, Aaron Biebert narrates the possibility that e-cigarettes may be able to save a majority of the billion lives that could be lost to tobacco.

The final section of the film centers on the attempts the tobacco industry has made to stop e-cigarettes from encroaching on the money-making abilities of the large multinational corporations involved. Set as an exploration of the reasons many people are critical toward vaping, the third act of A Billion Lives shows how money is integral to the tobacco industry’s survival. Tackling issues such as the involvement of pharmaceutical corporations and even governments in dealings with tobacco companies, the documentary reaches out to find out why there is such a negative bias toward vaping. Culminating in an extensive breakdown of how much money lies in the hands of tobacco industries, A Billion Lives covers a wide range of topics related to smoking extensively.

Development
The development of this documentary was lead by Aaron Biebert. Aaron is a filmmaker and director based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A director and executive producer at Attention Era Media, Aaron previously consulted and helped produce music videos, event films, sport highlight films, and social media storytelling films. A Billion Lives is his first feature film. Aaron first became interested in the vaping and tobacco industry when scouting ideas for his first feature film. After researching medical facts about tobacco and vapor and finding that one billion people were projected to die from tobacco this century, Aaron became passionate about documenting the subject. In an interview with Vape Craft Incorporated, Aaron stated that “I became angry…since those initial feelings, the topic has become very personal to me”.

Release Dates
A Billion Lives recently was showcased at its world premiere, held at the prestigious Doc Edge Film Festival in Wellington, New Zealand on May 10, 2016.

North America
The North American premiere is slated for August 6, where it will be shown at the world-famous Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Europe
The documentary premiered in Europe to a completely filled theater on June 16 of this year at the Palace of Culture in Warsaw, Poland. It was a strong opening to the Global Forum on Nicotine.

Australia
The Melbourne Documentary Film Festival showed the film on July 10, 2016, where Aaron Biebert won Best Director.