Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10771 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-02-16
• Rating: Exempt
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 118 minutes

Video Description
From the USA to Africa and the UK, Stephen Fry tracks down people whose lives have been transformed by this brutal disease, including those he holds dear. Stephen meets the doctors who were instrumental in initially defining the disease, such as Professor Brian Gazzard, formerly Freddie Mercury's doctor, and Professor Michael Gottlieb, Rock Hudson's doctor. He talks to people serving jail senteces for deliberately spreading the disease, and to public figures such as writer Armistead Maupin, who are all dedicated to spreading awareness. Stephen also meets some of the earliest diagnosed people who are, miraculously, still alive. He discovers what living with HIV really means, and what the future holds for this persistent and misunderstood illness.

Synopsis
Stephen Fry explores the emotive issue of HIV, traveling across Britain, America and Africa to meet people living with the virus and those whose lives have been greatly impacted by it. In an effort to put a human face on HIV, Stephen talks to the pioneering doctors who first defined the disease, and to some of the earliest people diagnosed.

Customer Reviews

A Thought Provoking documentary
I brought the DVD version of the documentary after seeing it on BBC 1 in October 2007. It is a very personal and at times very distressing look at AIDS & HIV in the context of both what it has become and what it was back in the early 1980s.

The documentary shows different peoples experiences of living with the disease and what they think about there situation.

If you are someone like me who feels strongly about supporting HIV and AIDS related causes this is deffinately the documentary for you.

The only thing I would warn purchasers of is that there are some quite distressing pieces of footage used at certain points in the documentary, of early AIDS sufferers but please don't let that put you off.

See Also:
Michael Callen: He has written some brilliant books on the subject and has also recorded some fantastic music about it.

A very human look at a misunderstood disease
Like many gay men in the 80's Stephen Fry watched friends waste away and die of an incurable and terrifying new disease. HIV once elicited media hysteria in Britain. Today it is rarely mentioned. In 2 parts his documentary takes him on a journey through Britain and Africa talking to those affected and those whose job it is to stop the disease. Fry brings a great deal of humanity to the programme. Fry is visibly shocked at a number of points in the film. When he talks to a gay man about the phenomenon of "gift-giving", the extent of AIDS in Africa (1000 people dying a day) and the ignorance of the Mbeki government. He's also shocked at the profound stigma attached to HIV and it's clear that a central aim of the programme is to help remove it. I found this documentary informative and interesting. The only downside is that Fry, though dealing with the issue of political correctness practices it himself by stating HIV affects all groups,(it affects mainly gay men & Africans). Despite that criticism this documentary is well worth watching.

Excellent film
A fantastic 2 part film - Stephen Fry is a truly empathic interviewer, completely opposite to the self interestd Jonathan Ross types of this world.