The World Health Organization (WHO) announced this week that AIDS is set to be the 3rd leading cause of death worldwide and that 117 million people will die of AIDS between 2006 and 2030. 39 million people worldwide are living with HIIV/AIDS today. Staggering statistics – but even more frightening is the fact that of that 39 million living with the virus, there is a growing majority of them that are unaware that they are infected. In a world of constant awareness of anything and everything virtually at the moment it happens e.g, we know that Britney Spears broke up with K-Fed over a text message and the every movement of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie half a world away, HIV/AIDS numbers are not dwindling, but increasing at an incredibly rapid rate. The issues of poverty, access to retroviral drugs and political upheaval notwithstanding in the developing world, there is no excuse for the growing numbers of HIV/AIDS in the “developed’ world. Have we just turned off? Do we just not care anymore because we have become lax in the belief that HIV/AIDS happens to “other” people? Let me repeat myself….”of that 39 million living with the virus, there is a growing majority of them that are unaware that they are infected”
The New York Times first reported on AIDS in 1981. However, while the esteemed paper was breaking the news to the public at large, there were a number of indie filmmakers within and outside of the gay community that were already using their films to send a message about the severity and fragility of life with HIV/AIDS. Early films by filmmakers such as Vito Russo’s THE CELLULOID CLOSET and Albert Bressan Jr.’s Buddies explored the impact of the virus on the gay community. In 1985’s AN EARLY FROST directed by John Erman AIDS was mentioned on television for the very first time. Filmmakers were beginning to reflect what was going on around them furthering. One of the strongest connections between the indie film world and the AIDS “crisis” of the 80s was a film called PARTING GLANCES (1986) directed by Bill Sherwood. The film is a typical NY story about a stressed out gay couple and the impact that AIDS has on their lives. It is both funny and sad and gave the indie film world one if its greatest and most respected talents, Steve Buscemi. It was his feature film debut.
As time went on indie filmmakers focused less and less on the films about “the disease” and more on how the disease was a part of the fabric of their narratives. Indie films such as Greg Araki’s THE LIVING END, Larry Clark’s KIDS, and Cyril Collard’s SAVAGE NIGHTS all featured characters or storylines that had an element of living with HIV/AIDS. Documentaries such as Tom Joslin’s SILVERLAKE LIFE and Robert Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s COMMON THREADS were notable for their depiction of what it was like living with HIV for the infected and those who love them.
But that was then.
Where are the filmmakers now when the “crisis” that we allowed ourselves to think was over because we were distracted is far from over? It is not the responsibility of filmmakers to influence society but it is their responsibility as artists to reflect society either in a fictionalized way or just the straight truth. There have been at least 25 films – narratives and documentaries made about the conflict in Iraq and practically none on the war that is currently ravaging communities at home. Maybe it is time to wake up.
For more information on HIV/AIDS, you can check out the following sites:
www.amfar.org
www.knowhivaids.org
The New York Times first reported on AIDS in 1981. However, while the esteemed paper was breaking the news to the public at large, there were a number of indie filmmakers within and outside of the gay community that were already using their films to send a message about the severity and fragility of life with HIV/AIDS. Early films by filmmakers such as Vito Russo’s THE CELLULOID CLOSET and Albert Bressan Jr.’s Buddies explored the impact of the virus on the gay community. In 1985’s AN EARLY FROST directed by John Erman AIDS was mentioned on television for the very first time. Filmmakers were beginning to reflect what was going on around them furthering. One of the strongest connections between the indie film world and the AIDS “crisis” of the 80s was a film called PARTING GLANCES (1986) directed by Bill Sherwood. The film is a typical NY story about a stressed out gay couple and the impact that AIDS has on their lives. It is both funny and sad and gave the indie film world one if its greatest and most respected talents, Steve Buscemi. It was his feature film debut.
As time went on indie filmmakers focused less and less on the films about “the disease” and more on how the disease was a part of the fabric of their narratives. Indie films such as Greg Araki’s THE LIVING END, Larry Clark’s KIDS, and Cyril Collard’s SAVAGE NIGHTS all featured characters or storylines that had an element of living with HIV/AIDS. Documentaries such as Tom Joslin’s SILVERLAKE LIFE and Robert Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s COMMON THREADS were notable for their depiction of what it was like living with HIV for the infected and those who love them.
But that was then.
Where are the filmmakers now when the “crisis” that we allowed ourselves to think was over because we were distracted is far from over? It is not the responsibility of filmmakers to influence society but it is their responsibility as artists to reflect society either in a fictionalized way or just the straight truth. There have been at least 25 films – narratives and documentaries made about the conflict in Iraq and practically none on the war that is currently ravaging communities at home. Maybe it is time to wake up.
For more information on HIV/AIDS, you can check out the following sites:
www.amfar.org
www.knowhivaids.org
posted by indieIN | 6:32 AM
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