In Conversation with Jon Kasbe: Filmmaker's Documentary Spotlights Nigeria’s Maternal Mortality Crisis

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In Lagos, Nigeria, motorcyclists known as blood riders dart through congested highways to deliver life-saving blood products from local blood banks to hospitals. Traffic in this bustling city often leads to relentless gridlock, hindering timely medical delivery services to patients in critical need, particularly mothers in labor. In Nigeria, blood delivery can take up to 24 hours. Blood riders are on a mission to change that.

The documentary Blood Rider, by Jon Kasbe, vividly captures a blood rider’s race against time to deliver blood to a hospital in under an hour to save lives. Kasbe and his team spent one month embedding in a Lagos hospital, following six pregnant women and four blood delivery riders. The thrilling documentary tells the story of Joseph, one of the city’s blood riders, and Deborah, a pregnant woman in need of a blood transfusion during labor, and how their worlds collide. The immersive storytelling and fast-paced action convey the intensity of the situation.

Nigeria is recognized as one of the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. To bring the film to life and shed light on the blood shortage crisis and poor maternal health outcomes in the country, Kasbe partnered with Google and LifeBank, a Nigerian health care company that uses technology to navigate blood delivery to hospitals through an around-the-clock team of dispatch riders, and he released the film in 2020.

Kasbe spoke to AABB News about his filmmaking process, his inspiration for telling this story and what he hopes audiences will take away from the documentary.

Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the film and what drew you to the project?

Google reached out to let me know about the work LifeBank was doing. I spoke with LifeBank's CEO Temie Giwa-Tubosun and some of the blood riders over Zoom, and through those conversations, I realized that this was more than just a job for the riders. They took great pride in their work and felt a deep sense of purpose. They believed they had found a unique solution to a very complex problem, one that was being solved at a local level.

What I found exciting was that, unlike many situations where outsiders come in to solve a problem without fully understanding it, this was a problem that local Nigerians truly understood on a deep level, both logistically and culturally. They created a solution that was innovative, using technology and Google to find the fastest routes from blood banks to hospitals while also navigating the relationships between the hospitals to ensure everyone got what they needed. In the end, they were saving lives, and everyone involved was passionate and excited about the work they were doing.

At first, I thought the story was inspiring, and it definitely grabbed me. But as I learned more, I realized it was also nuanced and pressing. We made this film just before COVID-19 hit, which turned out to be interesting timing. As storytellers, we always understood the importance of the health care field, but it was fascinating to see the world start to pay attention to it in a new way as we all faced the pandemic together.

How did you decide on portraying Joseph and Deborah as the key characters? What set their stories apart?

From the beginning, we were following multiple blood riders and pregnant women because we knew that structurally, we wanted to capture a rider who ultimately saved a pregnant woman’s life. That was always the main goal, because we heard numerous stories about how this was happening in real life.

We spent about 5 to 6 weeks in the field, following several people, not knowing how challenging it would be to align the stories of the blood riders and pregnant women. For example, we followed one blood rider who rushed to save a pregnant woman, but he didn’t make it in time. In other cases, we followed families during childbirth, only to have a blood rider we weren’t following arrive and save their lives.

There were a lot of misses. But with Joseph and Deborah, it all came together toward the end of our shoot. We had been following both of them throughout, waiting for that pivotal moment. Then Deborah went into labor, and Joseph was the rider who got the call. On one hand, we were lucky that everything aligned. But on the other hand, we had prepared for the unexpected by spreading our resources to follow multiple people, which increased the chances of their story arcs colliding.

What kind of research did you conduct before filming the documentary? How did the process help to shed light on maternal mortality in Nigeria?

Our team, along with the Google producers, conducted extensive research on this topic, and our findings were a major inspiration for making this film. We hope the film draws more attention to the statistics, raises awareness about the dangers and challenges associated with childbirth and encourages audiences to feel more comfortable discussing it. Through our research, we discovered a significant amount of resistance and fear around talking about the birthing process and the potential complications that can happen when bringing life into the world. This is something that needs to be normalized and discussed more openly.

How does your documentary address the challenges faced by health care systems, particularly in areas with limited access to blood products and lifesaving blood transfusions for pregnant women?

This documentary does a great job of highlighting the importance of infrastructure without getting bogged down in the weeds and logistical details of the problem. It tells a story of hope, showing how locals have found a creative solution to a complex issue that is making a dramatic impact. When we were making this film in 2019, we learned that it took more than 24 hours to get blood from blood banks to hospitals in Lagos. These blood riders have figured out how to deliver blood in under an hour. That’s a drastic improvement. We were truly inspired by their work, and we hope this story inspires others to see that even when long-standing problems feel complicated, dire and impossible, creative solutions still exist. Especially when local voices and perspectives are prioritized and truly listened to.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced during filming? Were there any unexpected hurdles or difficult moments?

We faced many obstacles throughout the process. Filming Blood Rider was extremely challenging. In the beginning, we had all this gear, like gimbals and drones, to capture the feeling of what it's like for a blood rider to receive a call and rush immediately to the hospital. But when we reviewed the footage at night, it didn’t capture the true essence of what it felt like to be on those motorcycles with the riders delivering blood. So, we decided to scrap all the gear and use the bare minimum. Whenever a rider got a call from LifeBank and hopped on their motorcycle, I, along with the other cinematographer, David Bolen, would climb on the back of the bikes, sitting backwards, and handhold the camera.

We followed the rider, squeezing our knees together to hold on. This technique created a much more authentic feeling of what it was like to be on the bikes during these deliveries, and that was our goal. We wanted to make the experience as realistic as possible.

Another huge logistical challenge was the unpredictability of what would happen. We followed pregnant women who had smooth births without complications, which was a relief, and we were truly grateful for those outcomes. But there were also times when we followed women through complicated births, and the blood riders didn’t make it in time; those situations didn’t work out. We witnessed real tragedies. The unknowns took a real toll on the team. We didn’t know what would happen, when it would happen or whether we’d capture that life-saving moment we’d been hearing about, because with it came a lot of tragedy. We got a taste of all of it, but we didn’t know initially if it would come together. We all feel incredibly lucky and fortunate that it did.

Were there any specific stories or moments from the film that deeply impacted you as a filmmaker?

There were so many moments and memorable characters, but Deborah, Joseph, and Deborah’s husband, Steven, really stood out to me. Steven was really sweet and nervous about everything going smoothly. It was a tender moment watching them prepare to bring life into their home, while also wanting to make sure they were doing everything right.

Joseph, who doesn’t have children of his own, feels a deep sense of responsibility toward his community. He carries a weight on his shoulders to save people’s lives. It was special for us to witness that, and it’s inspiring to see someone who has found their calling.

These three characters were the ones who truly captured our attention, and they became the focal point of the film. Our hope is that their stories inspire viewers to reflect on their own callings and consider what they want to do with their lives.

How did your collaborations shape the film and contribute to its vision?

LifeBank was a key partner because they are the true experts in this field. They live and breathe this work every day, and they educated us on what we needed to understand to portray it accurately.

Google made this project possible by financially supporting us and providing the resources to tell the story properly and accurately.

On the creative side, there were many people involved, including a talented editing team that sifted through all the footage and captured the real essence of the story in just 17 minutes. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with such talented, smart and hard-working people.

What is your favorite aspect of filmmaking and storytelling? What excites you?

My favorite part is meeting people I wouldn’t otherwise have had the chance to meet and becoming a part of their lives, especially when it feels like a true collaboration. Blood Rider would not have been possible if LifeBank hadn’t embraced the idea of a genuine partnership, where we were equal collaborators on the project. We worked closely with the community to find people who understood the importance of their work and were willing to open their lives to the filmmaking process, which isn’t always easy because you’re being watched in your home by people you've only just met. It can feel intense, but it’s also rewarding. As a filmmaker, each story changes me and challenges my preconceived notions and the way I see the world.

It was a true privilege to be with Deborah and Steven during such an intimate, intense moment in their lives. It even changed the way I view that kind of moment for myself. The most special moment is the connection you build with the people you're working with.

What's next for you in filmmaking?

Since Blood Rider, I made a film about a humanoid robot in Hong Kong (Sophia), which is coming out in May. I also finished a four-part docuseries about a controversial spiritual teacher in Utah that's called the Deep End. Currently, I'm working on three totally different documentaries that I can't say too much about yet, but hopefully they will be out in the next couple of years.

To learn more about Blood Rider and to watch the short documentary, visit jonkasbe.com/blood-rider.