World AIDS Day Awareness Streaming and DVD Resources

World AIDS Day has a special place in the history of the AIDS pandemic. Since 1988, December 1st has been a day bringing messages of compassion, hope, solidarity and understanding about AIDS to every country in the world, North and South, East and West.

What prompted this extraordinary response? World AIDS Day emerged from the call by the World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programs for AIDS Prevention in January 1988 to open channels of communication, strengthen the exchange of information and experience, and forge a spirit of social tolerance. Since then, World AIDS Day has received the support of the World Health Assembly, the United Nations system, and governments, communities and individuals around the world. Each year, it is the only international day of coordinated action against AIDS. -- from the World AIDS Day website. 

Below you will find several titles in our collection that can help educate and raise awareness. Several links and more information about World AIDS Day can be found at the World AIDS Day website.

The following resources require IUB CAS Authentication.

6000 a Day: an Account of a Catastrophe Foretold (55min., 2017)  How the failure of key individuals, prominent NGO's, and governments to act allowed a catastrophe to fester - a catastrophe that undoubtedly could have been avoided. Since it appeared 20 years ago, AIDS has left behind it a trail of destruction. This film answers the question 'why did the world wait so long to react', and dissects the key moments in the global response to the epidemic. By examining this human catastrophe, the film reveals a global rift that helped the disease to spread.

A.I.D.S at 21 is Anybody Listening (24min., 2004) 21 years after the CDC report that AIDS among African American men was on the rise, comments bring forth the challenges facing the African American community; particularly it's young men. Young people and experts express their feelings on the future: what is needed, their hopefulness or lack of it, and their spirit, dedication and compassion.

AIDS in America: the Crisis Continues (47min., 2001)  Discusses the AIDS epedemic in America, continuing search for a cure, AIDS education efforts and the population groups affected. Originally broadcast as a segment of the television series "Investigative reports."

AIDS in China, episode 3. Dignity (27min., 2011) Besides the torture of physical and mental weariness, the AIDS/HIV victims suffer from the social pressure and discriminations at the same time. When fear and uncertainty have overwhelmed their lives, how are they going to stand up for their dignity? We bring about the victims' stories of struggling for a foothold in society.

Autumn's Harvest (46min., 2007)  HIV isn't just infecting the poor and socially marginalized in faraway places. It's happening right here in our own backyard. To the people who help put food on our tables. In fact, the rate of infection among migrant workers appears to be at least 10 and perhaps 20 times that of the national average. Autumn's Harvest takes an unflinching look at how HIV has found fertile ground in the often-overlooked migrant community. The story is told through the experience of Douglas, an African American migrant worker who was diagnosed with AIDS in the mid '90s. Autumn's Harvest compels us to reflect on and respect where our food comes from. And even more important, from whom.

Bill T. Jones still/here (57min., 2206, 1997) What is it like to live with a life-threatening illness? Can fear, anger, and joy be translated into movement? In this program, journalist Bill Moyers and filmmaker David Grubin give viewers a rare glimpse into dancer/choreographer Bill T. Jones's highly acclaimed dance, "Still/Here. At workshops around the country, people facing life-threatening illnesses are asked to remember the highs and lows of their lives, and even imagine their own deaths. They then transform their feelings into expressive movement, which Jones incorporates into the dance performed later in the program. 

Bloodline: AIDS and Family (12min., 2016) An intimate portrait of African mothers, fathers and children being crushed by AIDS. The film connects us to these people deeply; we learn that only through such connection is hope possible.

Brazil: Winning Against AIDS (27min., 2017) HIV/AIDS sufferers in Brazil today get the same treatment as HIV/AIDS sufferers in the USA and Europe -- the same, free anti-retroviral drugs, clinical care, and monitoring. Since Brazil started to manufacture its own HIV/AIDS drugs in 1997, the country's patients have proved just as capable of taking their medicines on time as Americans or Europeans, and the Brazilian government's national HIV/AIDS program has halved the death rate from AIDS, prevented thousands of new patients from being hospitalized, and helped to stabilize the epidemic. Brazil's actions have effectively countered the arguments that the drug companies were using to deny AIDS treatment to developing countries' health services.

Crisis Control: Stemming the Spread of HIV/AIDS (26min., 2017) Worldwide, 42 million people are infected with HIV/AIDS. 90 percent of them live in Africa, Asia and Latin America. But while world attention has been focused on Africa's longstanding HIV/AIDS catastrophe, new crisis regions are emerging. Ukraine has one of the fastest growing infection rates in the world--an epidemic waiting to happen, unless urgent action is taken. Life visits the former Soviet Republic and Zambia, to find out if Eastern European countries like Ukraine can learn from Africa's experience in fighting AIDS--before it's too late.

Le Syndrome de Guerisseur (52min., 2017) Many African AIDS patients consult with traditional faith healers for their medical care. Confusion abounds between those who ease the distress of the AIDS victims, and those who profit from their suffering.

Making the Boys (92min., 2011) Before Prop 8, Will and Grace, AIDS, gay pride, or Stonewall, there was The Boys in the Band. Crayton Robey’s film explores the enduring legacy of the first ever gay play and subsequent Hollywood movie to reach a mainstream audience successfully. Beloved by some for breaking new ground and condemned by others for reinforcing gay stereotypes, The Boys in the Band sparked heated controversy that endures to this day. 

Man Alive. Family Album (82min., 1992) How does a wholesome young couple from a small farming community deal with the discovery that they are both HIV positive and about to have a baby? Add to that the fact that they already have two small children. After the birth, it took Don and Emma months to affirm that all three children were healthy and uninfected.

"Non, je ne regrette rien" (No regret) (38min., 1992) Five gay Black men who are HIV-positive discuss how they are battling the double social stigmas surrounding their infection and homosexuality.

Positive Women (49min., 2001) This documentary, directed and produced by Todd Austin, features three British women who are HIV positive.

Rampant How a City Stopped a Plague (57min., 2007) In November 1982, a young man walked into St Vincent's hospital, Sydney, complaining of simple symptoms - fever, fatigue, sweats. Not much was known about the virus he was carrying. Its name was still being debated. Its cause was a mystery. Its cure had yet to be found. It has still to be found. In time, like 50 million others around the world, he died of the disease. He was the first person diagnosed with AIDS in Australia. As news of his diagnosis spread, health experts prepared the country for deaths on an extraordinary scale - parallels with the Black Death were almost irresistible. A plague, an apocalypse lay ahead. Twenty-five years on, this is the story of how wrong, and how right they were. 

Sinesipho Why Must I Die (57min., 2008)  The epidemic of AIDS in South Africa is huge and the government has been lax in addressing the problem. In addition, on the international front, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has been slow to give aid to countries in need. This film shows how an HIV-positive mother, Busi Maqungo, living in a shanty town in South Africa, has become an AIDS activist.

Tongues Untied (55min., 2014, 1989) Marlon Riggs' essay film gives voice to communities of black gay men, presenting their cultures and perspectives on the world as they confront racism, homophobia, and marginalization. The film was embraced by black gay audiences for its authentic representation of style, and culture, as well its fierce response to oppression. Tongues Untied has been lauded by critics for its vision and its bold aesthetic advances, and vilified by anti-gay forces who used it to condemn government funding of the arts. It was even denounced from the floor of Congress.

During Covid, only IU faculty, staff and students can borrow materials from Media Services with a valid IU crimson card.  Face masks are required. Be sure to check with Media Services for hours. VHS titles are housed off-site at ALF, and can be requested via IUCAT. Suggested keywords in IUCAT: Ethnic group and Health, HIV, AIDS (Disease), and variants. Limit to film & video, dvd/videodisc, Bloomington campus.

The Age of AIDS (240min., 2006)  Part one follows the trail of a medical mystery which began in 1981 when five gay men in Los Angeles were diagnosed with a deadly new disease. Traces the international response in the first years of the epidemic, contrasting moments of inspirational leadership with the tragedy of missed opportunities. Reveals the astounding spread of the infection to over 70 million infections in 2006. Part two explores the chasm that emerged between rich and poor following the development of the miraculous "triple cocktail" HIV treatment. While the discovery seemed to signal a new era in which AIDS was no longer a fatal disease, the high price of the drugs meant they were unaffordable to patients in developing nations.

And the Band Played on (140min., 2001)  Follows the struggle of a handful of strong-willed men and women who took on the fight to save lives in the face of a mysterious illness now called AIDS.        

Belinda (29min., 1992) A native of eastern Kentucky, Belinda Mason was ... a small-town journalist and young mother who became infected with the HIV virus in 1987. In this program, Belinda talks about her own experiences dealing with AIDS and the support she found within her rural community.

Close to home : the Tammy Boccomino story (27min., 1992) Presents the true story of Tammy Boccomino and her son who have been diagnosed with the AIDS virus, neither of whom did anything that would make them at high risk for this fatal disease.

Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (79min., 2004, 1989) The story of the AIDS Memorial Quilt established by the San Francisco NAMES Project Foundation in 1987 to commemorate the lives lost to AIDS. From the thousands memorialized in the quilt, profiles five individuals--including a recovered IV drug user, a former Olympic decathlon star and a boy with hemophilia--whose stories reflect the diversity and common tragedy of those who have died from AIDS. Celebrates their unique personalities and achievements, interweaving these personal histories with a chronology of the epidemic's development and the negligence of the government.

Feminization of HIV & AIDS in the Kenyan context (86min., 2013) The focus of this debate is, Proposition : HIV and AIDS operates as an epidemic of signification concentrating more on the gendered and sexualized body of the the Kenyan woman as its subject rather than the structural determinants of risk to infection.

The Grove AIDS & the Politics of Remembrance (57min., 2011)  More Americans have been lost to AIDS than in all the U.S. wars since 1900. Yet few know about the National AIDS Memorial Grove, a seven-acre sanctuary hidden in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park and a testament to lives lost at a time when the stigma of AIDS forced many to grieve in silence. The Grove shows how a community in crisis found healing and remembrance, and how the seeds of a few visionary environmentalists blossomed into something larger than they could have imagined

The Heart of the matter (53min., 1994) Focuses on the inspiring story of Janice Jirau, an HIV- positive African American woman as she unravels the pieces of her life that contributed to her risk for HIV, and the powerful steps she took once she knew she had AIDS. A chorus of other HIV-positive women underscores the universal nature of the problems Janice confronted and draws attention to the alarming growth of the epidemic among women.

The Hospice (23min., 2005)  This film explores the work of a hospice in Zambia, a country on the front line in the world fight against HIV/AIDS. This is a country where one in five of the population are HIV-positive; most are under 40 years old. All of the eleven million population has been touched by HIV/AIDS in some way. The Mother of Mercy Hospice on the edge of the capital, Lusaka, was the first of its kind in Zambia. 

How to Survive a Plague (109min., 2013) The story of the brave young men and women who successfully reversed the tide of an epidemic, demanded the attention of a fearful nation, and stopped AIDS from becoming a death sentence. This improbable group of activists bucked oppression and infiltrated government agencies and the pharmaceutical industry, helping to identify promising new medication and treatments and move them through trials and into drugstores in record time.

"I have AIDS" a teenager's story (27min., 1989) The story of Ryan White of Kokomo, Ind. who got AIDS from a blood transfusion. Ryan answers questions asked by his school friends about AIDS. Learn why one need not be afraid to go to school with a student who has AIDS.

I shall not be removed the life of Marlon Riggs (58min., 1996)  A film biography of Marlon Riggs, the gifted, gay, black filmmaker who produced documentary films addressing issues of identity among Afro-Americans and gays. Clips from his films show how he evolved a unique experimental documentary style, mixing poetry, criticism, the personal and the political. It also documents his long battle against AIDS until his death in 1994 and includes interviews with family, friends, and co-workers.

Not a Simple Story: Out in Silence (41min., 1994) Two documentaries on AIDS among Asian Americans. In the first (8 min.) a widow, whose husband died of AIDS, copes with her HIV. In the second (33 min.) a young gay male talks about being an Asian American gay with HIV.

Transgender Tuesdays a Clinic in the Tenderloin (60min., 2012) Chronicles the lives of 12 courageous people who came to the first-ever public health clinic in the US to offer full primary care to transgender people in San Francisco's gritty Tenderloin District. The warm narratives of these pioneering patients turn the harrowing places they have been into a testament of victory and hope.

Undetectable the new face of AIDS (56min., 2001) Follows six women and men, straight and gay, of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, over a three-year period as they deal with the disease AIDS and the new multi-drug therapy.

White hotel (90min., 1996) With video camera in hand, two women follow an American HIV research team to Eritrea, East Africa, and are catapulted into a land of joy and repression, promiscuity and sexual mutilation. They quickly are drawn into circumstances which shatter the filmmakers objectivity and turns their journalistic inquiry into an intimate investigation of their own capacities to love, suffer and forgive.

• Diversity Media Streaming Libguide
• LGBT Studies in Video
• Media Studies Libguide
• Theatre T462: Development of Dramatic Art - with a focus on HIV/AIDS in drama

Public Access to free streaming titles:

• Monroe County Public Library - access to Hoopla, Internet Archive, Overdrive, Kanopy and more; MCPL card required.
• IU Media Collections Online - provides open access to thousands of IU films, clips, documentaries, and more.

Online Resources:

• International AIDS Society
• UNAIDS
• World Health Organization