"Disgustingly Healthy - leeches and maggots"

genre: documentary,
duration: 2 x 43 min., HD 16:9
language: German, French
directors: Michaela Kirst and Robert Cibis
produced by: OVAL Filmemacher GbR (Berlin)

They squirm and wriggle. They crawl and slither. They are older than the dinosaurs.
They were hated and loved, almost eradicated from the face of the earth, but always struggled through – and they are now having their greatest comeback ever.

“Disgustingly Healthy – Leeches and Maggots” enters the fascinating world of the small squirming creatures that have populated earth for millions of years – and had just enough time to evolve into the perfect healers.

Our documentary tells the story of the riveting rise, the dramatic fall, and the surprising renaissance of the leech and the maggot in western medicine. They also tell of the century-old love-hate relationship between men and these little monsters – a liaison alternating between attraction and disgust.

Since the US - Food and Drug Administration recognized leeches and maggots as a medical device in 2004, more and more doctors have overcome their own prejudices and advice their patients to set their repulsion aside to see these squirming and crawling creatures as what they really are
– a wonder of nature. The agonizing pain of rheumatism, wounds that will not heal, limbs that are about to wither away – leeches and maggots have the powers to heal and bring relief, and they might even have more in store than what is known today.

What are the facts and questions behind the new renaissance of these vampires and their wound-cleaning colleagues? Why was this medical procedure, which had been practiced for thousands of years, suddenly banned by western medicine? And why do most people hate their guts so much even though they ought to love them?