I was interested in Clean because I was drawn toward the description of the film that mention trauma cleaning. I’m fascinated by people who do this for a living and I wanted to find out more.
The main subject of the film, Sandra Pankhurst, started her company, STC (Specialised Trauma Cleaning) over 21 years ago in Melbourne, Australia. She explains when she first started out, she didn’t wear PPE (which, thanks to COVID, we all actually know what that means) on job sites so over the years, she developed COPD and severe lung issues.
Pankhurst started her company because she had been through so much trauma as a child (abuse/neglect) and her adulthood (rape, murder witness), she wanted families who were actively going through a trauma not to have to deal with the aftermath of it. Before she started her company, she said families who had a loved one die in a violent manner (or any manner, for that matter) had to clean up after it themselves. The police/fire department doesn’t do that for families.
Clean follows both Pankhurst and a few of her employees as they go through a period of months both on trauma sites and in their person lives, as well. Pankhurst had to retire from actively working trauma sites and, when her health allowed, went on public speaking engagements. She had become a bit of a personality 2018 after being the subject of Sarah Krasnostein’s book The Trauma Cleaner. Throughout the film, we see Pankhurst slow deteriorate before our eyes. She never stopped, though.
Going into Clean, I thought I was going to get a movie about how a particular company cleans up trauma sites and, instead, a got a film about an extraordinary woman and her team of workers and what they go through as they work for this company. Is it a perfect film? No, but it is both interesting and touching. You really get involved with Pankhurst on an emotional level and, by the end of the film, you might just find yourself in tears.
Clean
Documentary Feature Competition, World PremiereThis article appears in March 18 • 2022.