Available Videos

Pandemic: Facing AIDS

Pandemic: Facing AIDS, which debuted on HBO in 2003, was produced by Moxie Firecracker Films, HBO and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Program description: Narrated by Elton John, music by John Cage, Pandemic: Facing AIDS is a documentary that takes a unique look at the worldwide AIDS epidemic, melding intimate personal stories with a global perspective. Facing AIDS recounts five stories of people living with AIDS in countries around the world - Russia, Thailand, Uganda, India and Brazil. It reveals the heartaches and triumphs of coping with the stigma and effects of this devastating disease. Showing how AIDS tests people in unexpected ways, the series chronicles the minor miracles that occur in the face of doom. Treatment, prevention, education, mother-to-child transmission, the stigma of AIDS, and harm reduction are among the issues explored, as well as the main obstacles and opportunities faced by the individuals in the film. The five countries profiled in Pandemic Facing AIDS represent a cross-section of cultures and attitudes regarding HIV/AIDS.

Variable program lengths. We are offering this program in several different lengths - all in English. (We do have the individual segments, see para 3C, available without English subtitles.)

A. Feature version - 113 minutes - includes all 5 stories

B. Educational version - 42 minutes - includes all 5 stories – shortened

C. 5-part series - five 30-minute episodes

C 1. Thailand - This episode captures the pain and stigma experienced by an end-stage AIDS patient, Lek, a former commercial sex worker. At age 27, without any health care support, Lek finds herself facing death alone at a Buddhist monastery hospice, until her family - who must grapple with their feelings of shame and love - finally allow her to return home to die with dignity.

C 2. Uganda - In Uganda, nearly 1.2 million children have been orphaned by AIDS. This episode looks at how one community copes with the overwhelming challenges of an entire generation growing up without parents, and how local organizations can make a difference. Seven-year-old James, left to take care of his younger sister Jessica after their father died of AIDS and their mother disappeared, is able to rely on the support of a local grassroots organization. Margaret Boogere, who heads the AIDS orphan choir, uses the power of song to lead AIDS orphans such as James and Jessica into a better life after their parents have succumbed to the disease. While the number of HIV-infected people is staggering, a government-sponsored campaign of education and prevention has halved the HIV rate in a decade.

C 3. Russia - Sergei and Lena, a young couple whose IV drug use left them HIV-positive, are part of the ever-growing number of infected youth in Russia, where the virus is spreading from drug users to the general population. The episode chronicles their struggle to become functioning parents so that they can raise their three-year-old son, Nikita, independently. As they cope with the epidemic in a country where the true scale of devastation is just beginning to sink in, Sergei and Lena are in a race against time. They have begun to organize and raise awareness in their community in an effort to save others.

C 4. Brazil - you meet Alex, a 27-year-old gay man close to death, who takes advantage of Brazil's free AIDS drug therapy to try and rebuild his health and get back to living a full and productive life. His story shows how Brazilian AIDS/HIV policies have led to major success in the struggle against the epidemic. Brazil is one of the world's most effective countries in slowing the spread of HIV and AIDS, due to its aggressive education policies, prevention strategies and treatment programs.

C 5. India - This story focuses on the challenges of a young family facing life with AIDS in a southern Indian village. When a former truck driver discovers he has AIDS, he takes the unusual step of defying the local stigma by sharing his status with his village community in hopes that others may learn from his mistakes. His pregnant, HIV- positive wife, despite her family's objections and possible ostracizing by the community, decides to stay with her husband. Facing cultural and familial pressures, they decide to have a baby despite both parents being HIV positive. Together, they take every precaution to prevent HIV transmission to their baby. In India alone, of the HIV- positive mothers who give birth every year, 30% of the children are infected.