:H O M E : : A B O U T : : W O R K - S A M P L E : S C R E E N I N G S : : H E L P

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S Y N O P S I S:

In post-apartheid South Africa, life has gotten better, but now there is a disease that has hold on a vanishing population. Sixty-three percent of the world's population infected with HIV/AIDS lives in the country, and in Kwazulu Natal, where the rate of infection in women is twice that of men, one out of every six people is HIV-positive.

Thing With No Name follows two Zulu women as they begin rigorous and oftentimes confusing antiretroviral drug therapy. As these women invite us into their homes and share their stories, we witness firsthand the hope these drugs offer. Yet the overwhelming reality is the lack of resources and support available to them undermines their fight to survive in a community where orphans outnumber their counterparts and funerals are daily occurrences. This beautifully shot documentary intimately displays the humanity surrounding this astounding epidemic and proves that those suffering are more than mere statistics.

-- Abby Kavanaugh

 

F I L M M A K E R : B I OS :

A New York based filmmaker, Sarah Friedland (director/producer) received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College in 2003 where she studied film and sociology. She also attended the International School of Film and Television in San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba, and has worked with several filmmakers in the New York area and abroad to produce socially minded and creative films.

Credits: Co-Director with Vanessa Woods on Breath on the Mirror
Principal Editor on Free to Fly: the US– Cuba Link, a documentary by the award-winning director Estela Bravo, La Memoria es Vaga by Katie Halper, Las diarias porcelanas by La Vaughn Belle, Assistant Editor on The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo by Amy Stechler

A San Fransisco based filmmaker/designer, Esy Casey (director of photography/producer) graduated with honors from Parsons School of Design in 2003. She has since been invited to photograph for health and environmental advocacy projects from Andalucía, Spain to the Navajo Reservation at Chinle, and exhibits internationally. Her design work has been featured in publications for Bloomsbury USA/UK, Henry Holt and Company, Weldon Owen, and the Amnesty International Firefly Project.

Find an online journal of the film's production in South Africa here
Find a complete description of the film here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A D V I S O R Y
B O A R D :

Peter Piot Director of UNAIDS

Zachie Achmat Executive Director of The Treatment Action Campaign, the most prominent activist organization in South Africa

Gerald Friedland Director of AIDS Program at the Yale School of Medicine in Connecticut

Wafaa El-Sadr Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Harlem Hospital, and Professor of Clinical Medicine and Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, NYC

Judith Auerbach Vice President for Policy and Prevention at the American Foundation for AIDS Research in Washington, DC

Professor Hoosian Coovadia Victor Daitz Chair in HIV/AIDS Research, and Professor of Pediatrics at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine in Durban, South Africa

Professor Umesh Lalloo Professor of Medicine, Enhancing Care Initiative at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine in Durban, South Africa

Phumzile Ndlovu Outreach Worker for the HIVAN Center for HIV/AIDS Networking in Durban, South Africa, Home Based Care Workers, and Organizer for the Youth Center in the Drakensburg, South Africa 

Robert Sebler AIDS Researcher at Columbia University, NYC

Tony Moll Physician Director of the Philanjalo, Church of Scotland Hospital in Tugela Ferry, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

Demetria Royals Head of the Film Department at Sarah Lawrence College and Documentary Filmmaker for PBS and HBO

Jill Krueger Director of the recent documentary Deadly Myths, about the myths surrounding HIV/AIDS in South Africa

Renata Simone Documentary Filmmaker for WGBH and Frontline. Simone is currently producing a four hour documentary series for Frontline about the history of HIV/AIDS

Amy Stechler Documentary Filmmaker who has produced multiple works for PBS, including writing and co-producing early Ken Burns films such as The Brooklyn Bridge