">Aids Hiv | 'resurrection' From Hiv: A Basic Human Right
In July 2007, I’d seen a Vanity Fair article about HIV/AIDS treatment in Africa, and was moved and inspired by the transformations described in Alex Shoumatoff’s story The Lazarus Effect.
Two years and many conversations later, I was on a plane to Zambia to help (RED) portray on film the stunning transformation that antiretroviral medications can bring to people and their communities. Last year, I spent parts of May, August, September, and December in Zambia documenting this effect through the experience of four people with HIV: Connie, Concillia, Paul and Bwalya.
I became involved in The Lazarus Effect through Spike Jonze who is the film’s executive producer. Spike and I have often worked together and we were just finishing up another film for HBO about Maurice Sendak called ‘Tell Them Anything You Want.’ I dropped what I was working on, boarded a plane for Zambia and started shooting as soon as we hit the ground
As a filmmaker, the clear difference in people going from being near death to looking much healthier was a fascinating visual and emotional structure for a film. On a more personal level, I had lost friends over the years to AIDS and AIDS related illnesses and have had a core internal connection to the issue. I’ve watched friends waste away and wither to death, this was a chance to see people go the opposite direction in a glorious way.
Becoming familiar with how people lived soon made me even more impressed with how resilient they were — adhering to the precise schedule of taking ARV medication at specific times of day and not missing doses — especially for those living in challe
