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The dimensions of the AIDS pandemic are catastrophic: Five million people have been infected this year alone; a total of 40 million worldwide are currently infected with the HIV virus; 24 million people have died to date; and 13 million children have been orphaned by AIDS. During the last 20 years, HIV/AIDS has spread across social, political and cultural barriers, affecting people in every corner of the globe. Experts predict that in ten years, 112 million people may be HIV-positive, yet it is a disease whose transmission is entirely preventable.
Behind these statistics lie the personal stories of millions of people, each of whom must face the challenges of HIV and AIDS in his or her own way.
Narrated by Elton John, Pandemic: Facing AIDS is a documentary series of five half-hour films by Rory Kennedy that takes a unique look at the worldwide AIDS epidemic, melding intimate personal stories with a global perspective. Featuring an original score by Philip Glass, Pandemic: Facing AIDS was produced by Moxie Firecracker Films, HBO and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The series is the centerpiece of a multifaceted global campaign to raise awareness of the AIDS crisis, with major funding for the project provided by the AOL Time Warner Foundation. Pandemic: Facing AIDS follows five stories of people living with AIDS in countries around the world, revealing the heartaches and triumphs of coping with a stigma and effects of the 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 in the series, as well as the many 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.
Thailand takes you to a Buddhist monastery-turned-hospice, where a former sex worker with AIDS yearns to return to her village and family to die with dignity.In Uganda you will see how one committed woman uses the power of song to educate and comfort AIDS orphans after their parents have succumbed to the disease.
In Russia, there is a young couple whose IV drug use left them HIV positive. Today you see them trying to spread the message of AIDS education while attempting to regain custody of their toddler son. Brazil takes you to meet a 27-year-old gay man 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.
In India, a truck driver and his pregnant wife, both HIV-positive, take every precaution to prevent HIV transmission to their baby.
Pandemic: Facing AIDS is the centerpiece of a multifaceted campaign by Moxie Firecracker Films and Umbrage Editions to raise awareness of the global AIDS crisis through cultural, media and educational projects. Other elements include a PSA campaign, an an international traveling exhibition, "Pandemic: Imaging AIDS," a CD produced by Warner Music Group, "Pandemic: Music for a World Without AIDS," a book, "Pandemic: Facing AIDS," published by Umbrage Editions in association with Moxie Firecracker Films, which feature photographs by renowned photographers, and an education packet for middle- and high-school students and teachers, distributed globally to school, non-governmental organizations, and government agencies.
Pandemic: Facing AIDS is directed by Rory Kennedy; produced by Rory Kennedy and Liz Garbus; narrated by Elton John; original score by Philip Glass with additional music by Miriam Cutler; edited by Kate Amend; directors of photography, Nick Doob and Tom Hurwitz; written by Mark Bailey. For HBO: supervising producer, Nancy Abraham; executive producer, Sheila Nevins.
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