In honor of World AIDS Day I just wanted to showcase a few films that discuss this epidemic...
World AIDS Day is held on 1 December each year and is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died.
More than 90,000 people are currently living with HIV in the UK and globally an estimated 33.3 million people have HIV. More than 25 million people between 1981 and 2007 have died from the virus, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history.
Today, many scientific advances have been made in HIV treatment, there are laws to protect people living with HIV and we understand so much more about the condition. But despite this, people do not know the facts about how to protect themselves and others from HIV, and stigma and discrimination remain a reality for many people living with HIV. World AIDS Day is important as it reminds the public and Government that HIV has not gone away – there is still a vital need to raise money, increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education.*
World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day and the first one was held in 1988.
1. Philadelphia: Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks brings to light the impact of the AIDS epidemic in this 1993 movie.
2. Angels in America: In transferring Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning play to the small screen, director Mike Nichols has crafted a profound, ambitious masterpiece. The film follows a sprawling group of characters as they navigate their way through the cutthroat New York City of the 1980s, when AIDS began to rear its ugly head.
3. Longtime Companion: A movie which concentrates exclusively on the devastating effects of AIDS on a group of middle-class gay men from the years 1981 to 1988.
4. A Mother's Prayer: A mother diagnosed with HIV struggles with her own fears while trying to find a family to care for her eight-year-old son.
6. Life and Death on the A-List: A heart-wrenching documentary about Tom McBride's (who some people will remember as the wheelchair bound jock in Friday The 13th: Part 2) life, his fight with AIDS and his death.
7. And the Band Played On: An engrossing adaptation of Randy Shilts' landmark prize-winning document on the onset of AIDS and the fevered manhunt to find the cause and cure of the HIV virus. Compelling storytelling and a remarkable performance by Modine as the head for the Centers for Disease Control facing impossible odds and heartbreaking frustrations. Hallmark for cameo appearances and political correctness it may be but stirring and revelatory nonetheless. Dare not to be moved during Elton John's "The Last Song" as images and names of the disease's victims roll during the closing credits. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode for HBO.
8. Rent: A modern spin on the opera LA BOHEME, RENT tells the story of eight friends dealing with life and love in Manhattan's Alphabet City in 1989. Over the course of a year, the friends face poverty, drug addiction, break-ups, reconciliations, eviction, and AIDS. Despite these challenges, they find support, hope, and acceptance in each other, all the while embracing the bohemian lifestyle that was so much a part of the Lower East Side.
World AIDS Day is an opportunity for you to learn the facts about HIV and put your knowledge into action.
*Information provided by World AIDS Day. org
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