With his documentary called Hold-Up, director Pierre Barnérias wanted to denounce "lies, corruption and manipulation" in France around the management of the coronavirus. Nevertheless, if this production is successful on the web, the reactions are sometimes strong. Indeed, the documentary develops conspiracy theories on a global scale.
For a few hours on social networks, it has been possible to watch a mysterious documentary called "Hold-Up". The movie poster is otherwise unequivocal, showing two masked faces and whose eyes contain the logos of AFP, TF1, BFMTV and CNEWS. It is also possible to read the following words:"lies, corruption, manipulations, Covid-19 Back to chaos" . With this production of approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes , director Pierre Barnérias – a former journalist for TF1 and Europe 1 – intended to clarify the errors made by the State, the media and doctors from the scientific community in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic in France.
The only thing is that certain voices have been raised, such as that of the essayist Tristan Mendès France. On November 11, 2020, the person posted a tweet lambasting the Hold-Up documentary which he said “excites the conspiracy” . It must be said that when it was released, several hundred thousand Internet users (even millions) watched the film and there were many shares. The production was made possible thanks to several crowdfunding campaigns – on Ullule and Tipeee. More than 5,000 people contributed to these operations, which raised more than 200,000 euros.
But what does this documentary actually contain? The main thesis of the film is rather simple:the World Economic Forum in Davos is using Covid-19 – artificially created – as part of an overall scheme to subjugate humanity.
No less than 37 speakers are present in the documentary and several excerpts from the film are the subject of additional publications. Let us quote for example Nathalie Derivaux, a visibly moved midwife commenting on the remarks of Laurent Alexandre (polemicist) on the elites by comparing him to Adolf Hitler. However, you should know that these comments were made in 2019, before the pandemic. Let's also mention Michael Yeadon, former Director of Research at Pfizer. The latter had declared that there was no evidence concerning the second wave of the epidemic and advanced the argument of false positives. We should also mention Michael Levitt, biophysicist chemist and Nobel laureate in chemistry. In February 2020, the man predicted the end of the epidemic when there were already more than 2,500 deaths in China. He had also declared the outbreak over in the United States on August 22, 2020.
A word about the main character of the documentary:Christian Perronne. Head of the infectious diseases department at the Raymond-Poincaré hospital in Garches, the person concerned does not carry government policy in his heart and supports Professor Raoult and his protocol. Christian Perronne became known some time ago before the pandemic for his statements on the origin of Lyme disease. According to him, there is talk of a secret proliferation of ticks modified by a Nazi researcher. Among the other speakers, we also find Valérie Bugault, Ema Krusi or even Silvano Trotta. All listed by The Observatory of Conspiracy, these very controversial personalities often express themselves on their own YouTube channels or social media pages.
Another excerpt depicts the remarks of Olivier Véran and Jérôme Salomon during the first wave. The Minister of Health and the infectious disease specialist actually said that it was not desirable for the wearing of a mask to become generalized to the entire French population. Nevertheless, these words were in line with the WHO recommendations which since then have naturally changed. Nevertheless, the documentary ignores certain well-known scandals, relating for example to the low quantity of masks in the strategic stock of the French State at the arrival of the pandemic. On the other hand, the film focuses on an alleged ineffectiveness of the mask when people are not sick. However, studies have already shown that the mask also protects its wearer and that asymptomatic people can be contagious.
Let us remember that since the appearance of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, conspiracy theories multiply. These concern in particular the origin of the virus, the future vaccine and of course, the wearing of the mask. The fake news mention in particular a risk of hypoxia (lack of oxygen), CO2 poisoning or even too large a size of the meshes of the masks, letting the virus pass. Obviously, these allegations have absolutely no scientific basis and have already had the effect of a debunking.
> To see, the decryption of the first 15 minutes of the film
However, it is ultimately a question of a sprawling conspiracy theory evoking a world conspiracy and where the elements pile up in a rather awkward way. In addition to the "dangers" of the mask, we find various themes such as Bill Gates, the Rockefellers, the questioning of the lethality (and origin) of the coronavirus, a holocaust on the 3.5 billion poorest earthlings or 5G again. The director still went so far as to involve a man presented as a former intelligence agent. With a covered face, the latter explains that a source from the Nuclear Safety Agency (ASN) entrusted him with the artificial nature of the coronavirus. The man also claimed that the virus is a biochemical weapon aimed at lowering the world's population. This kind of statement, however, goes against everything that can be found in the scientific literature, even if the origin of the virus is not yet clearly established and the trail of the laboratory accident still seems active.
This "documentary" has the appearance of a journalistic investigation. However, the absence of substantive work could not be more glaring. Indeed, the comments of the speakers are never contextualized let alone questioned. At first, the film is very general, dealing in particular with the fear that politicians would maintain. Some passages are very insistent, especially the one referring to hydroxychloroquine. The latter is also based on the controversial study published and then withdrawn by the journal The Lancet. Finally, the last third of the film falls into a primary conspiracy tinged with confusion.
