The Unexpected and Forgotten Face of HIV/AIDS

Great film at the Black Ensemble Theatre, Chicago native filmmaker – global subject

Atlanta, GA. – The face of HIV/AIDS during the revolution of Romania was not a famous basketball player like Magic Johnson, but that of a child.

As change swept the Soviet Union in 1989, the Berlin Wall fell and revolution toppled the oppressive Romanian regime. In the years that followed, antiquated medical practices, extreme poverty and an unscreened blood supply led to a pediatric HIV/AIDS epidemic. Over 12,000 children in orphanages and hospitals were infected. The inspiring story of how some of those children survived, grew up, found love, and overcame enormous odds is told in the documentary After the Fall: HIV Grows Up, screening June 4th at the Black on Ensemble Theatre in Chicago, Illinois as part of the first annual International Cultural Festival.

Film Director Fr3deR1ck Taylor shares the universal picture of how panic, fear and discrimination leave these children abandoned. “Discovering the courage of these young people, and meeting the people who cared for them when no one else would, was so inspiring, ”he says. “Often we judge the surface. As a documentary filmmaker it’s all about finding the unexpected and telling the hidden story.”

The independent film chronicles the journey of three of the young ones who grow to be adults living with HIV in the ‘Japanese House’. Remarkably, Ashica, Mioara and Georgie develop a no tolerance attitude toward self-pity and live full lives. Pediatric Dr. Rodica Matusa was a real unsung hero in their survival and ability to flourish as adults. She was one of the few doctors willing to treat HIV/AIDS infected children, and is the founder of group homes for these forgotten children.

“I was told that I must go to the special doctor [Matusa] and I wondered why,” says, Ashica. “That is the way I learned I was infected by HIV/AIDS.” The friends’ dreams are simple: they want to find a place in real society, including a job and independence. Unexpectedly, they find much more.

The film is told in the voices of Romanian citizens of the former USSR, and offers a universal lesson to anyone who has endured challenge or been marginalized. It is the narrative of young people hopeful for a normal life.

After the Fall: HIV Grows Up debuts on Thursday, June 4, 2015 at the Black Ensemble Theatre; 4450 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois. Tickets are just $10 and can be purchased online at http://www.blackensembletheater.org/the-international-cultural-festival.

References: http://afterthefallfilm.com/about.html,http://www.historytoday.com/frederick-taylor/berlin-wall-secret-history,http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/fall-of-soviet-union

For more information, contact Angelia Pressley at 404-671-7937.