September 2026 - Wingspan are delighted to share that their new documentary The Battle To Breathe will make its debut in the US on NOVA/PBS on Wednesday 16th September, and alongside it two new Companion Piece Films.

The project reunites the Battle To Beat Malaria Emmy-nominated team, led by producer/director Catherine Gale, featuring versatile hand-drawn animations from The Tin Bear Project, and an affecting original score by Jessica Dannheisser.

NOVA “THE BATTLE TO BREATHE” FOLLOWS THE DECADES-LONG SCIENTIFIC QUEST  THAT LED TO A BREAKTHROUGH TREATMENT FOR CYSTIC FIBROSIS

New Film from NOVA, Wingspan Productions, and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios Premieres Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 9pm ET/8c on PBS, pbs.org/nova, and on the PBS App.

Boston, MA – September 8, 2026 – The award-winning PBS science series, NOVA, part of the GBH Documentary Unit, today announced THE BATTLE TO BREATHE, a NOVA Production by Wingspan Productions and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios for GBH will premiere Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 9pm ET/8c on PBS (check local listings) and stream at pbs.org/nova and the PBS App. The one-hour documentary chronicles the relentless quest that led to a recent breakthrough treatment for cystic fibrosis (CF), one of the most common fatal genetic diseases in the United States.

Once a death sentence that kept life expectancies from reaching much past childhood, cystic fibrosis now has a revolutionary and life-saving treatment. In 2019 Trikafta, a potent combination of three drugs, changed the course of the disease almost overnight. Now over 90% of people diagnosed with CF in the USA could have the opportunity for their lives to be transformed, and some who had once been gasping for breath have begun running marathons. THE BATTLE TO BREATHE follows how decades of scientific research, driven forward by desperate parents fighting for their children, led to this extraordinary breakthrough. Viewers will experience stories of joy, struggle, and unwavering hope.

THE BATTLE TO BREATHE features insights from experts including scientist Prof. Paul Quinton, who was born with CF and experimented on his own sweat ducts to solve the mystery of the disease’s mechanism; Dr. Jennifer L. Taylor, a pulmonary medicine professor at National Jewish Health, the largest adult center for cystic fibrosis in America; former NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins, one of the geneticists who discovered the CF gene; Dr. Michael J. Welsh, a University of Iowa professor whose research paved the way for CF drug development; Paul Negulescu, team leader at Vertex Pharmaceuticals who developed the revolutionary new CF drugs; and award-winning science journalist Bijal P. Trivedi, author of ‘Breath from Salt’ from which the documentary is partly derived.

CF is the first disease where drugs correct the faulty proteins produced by disease-causing genes, a crucial milestone in the journey toward personalized medicine. “This incredible feat was achieved because of the passion, ingenuity and tenacity of the families of children born with the disease,” says the documentary’s director Catherine Gale (Emmy-nominated for her previous NOVA, THE BATTLE TO BEAT MALARIA). “I’ve been inspired by the contributors to this story — a diverse group of visionary scientists and doctors united in the quest not only to understand this deadly genetic disease but to end it.”

THE BATTLE TO BREATHE is a NOVA Production by Wingspan Productions and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios for GBH. Produced and Directed by Catherine Gale. Edited by Cathy Houlihan and Bruce Law. Executive Producer for Wingspan Productions is Archie Baron. Executive Producers for HHMI Tangled Bank Studios are Chad Cohen and Jared Lipworth. Executive Producers for NOVA are Julia Cort and Chris Schmidt.