Host a Screening
The Fly Collectors
A film by Jeff Arak
The Fly Collectors highlights the history of river blindness (also known as onchocerciasis) control and elimination in West Africa and the dedication required to eliminate transmission of the disease — with a particular focus on a group of men in Senegal who volunteer to complete the painstakingly difficult job of catching disease-transmitting flies by hand. By collecting these samples, the fly collectors monitor the current state of river blindness transmission in their communities and serve as a critical force propelling Senegal closer to the milestone of eliminating transmission within its borders.
Learn more about the film
Host a Screening
In anticipation of World Neglected Tropical Disease Day 2025, the END Fund is offering the opportunity for you to host a screening of The Fly Collectors. Interested in organizing a screening of The Fly Collectors? Input your information below to receive our “Screening in a Box,” designed to help you host your own screening of the film. The toolkit includes materials to help you invite attendees, promote the screening, and facilitate an action-oriented conversation about the film’s message and implications for ending neglected tropical diseases. Also included in the screening in a box is a free link to the documentary film. Please follow the form guidelines below for more information.
River Blindness
River blindness, also called onchocerciasis, is a neglected tropical disease that is the fourth leading cause of preventable blindness globally. Globally, over 200 million people across 31 countries still require annual treatment for river blindness. Those living with the disease experience disrupted education and livelihoods, which affects their families and communities.
Prior to the rollout of control and elimination programs, the risk of blindness due to the disease in West Africa affected up to 50 percent of adults. Entire communities abandoned their fertile river valleys to avoid the primary areas of transmission, increasing famine in affected regions.
Legendary Senegalese singer Baaba Maal provides the soundtrack for this lyrical celebration of the work that has brought his country within sight of a once unthinkable goal: eliminating river blindness.