China's AIDS epidemic, hidden in plain sight—one filmmaker risks everything to expose the truth.
Zhao Liang’s film portrays AIDS sufferers of both genders; they are all people with very different biographies. As if it wasn’t bad enough being infected by HIV, their suffering is compounded by the fact that in the People’s Republic of China the disease is hushed up and people living with AIDS are ostracised. In China, the public at large knows very little about the disease and most people associate the virus with promiscuity. This fear of discrimination forces most patients to hide the fact that they are positive. The AIDS sufferers in Zhao Liang’s film were willing to share their experiences with him. The filmmaker was able to make contact with them via internet support groups; he also visited children with Aids at a ‘red ribbon’ school; but above all, he talked to AIDS sufferers during the making of Gu Changwei’s film. It is their presence which lends Changwei’s film its particular authenticity.
Direction
Zhao's patient observation builds devastating intimacy.
Production
Shot guerrilla-style under government radar.
Director
Zhao Liang
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Zhao Liang smuggled footage out of China; some subjects appear with faces obscured or voices altered.
The 'plasma economy' of 1990s Henan province—where rural blood collection spreads HIV—remains officially unacknowledged by Chinese authorities.
CN
