Living with Aids

A new film by Sierra Leone film maker Sorious Samura focuses on the relationship between the spread of HIV, promiscuity and unsafe sex in Zambia.

The film sounds very frightening with sexually active children as  young as 6  years old and HIV+ men having unprotected sex on a regular basis.  Samura himself says he started having sex at aged 7.

Joshua leant forward, raising his voice over the blaring music: 'Myself, when I finish drinking I just go for any girl and have sex with her. I do flesh to flesh. There is no reason of using a condom once I am HIV. I'm dying.'...........'So you'd prefer to take more people with you?' he shouted. 'Don't you have a conscience? Can't you think you're destroying the world? You are sinking Africa.'

Samura's film is bound to be controversial as it raises issues around lifestyle, where it is 'normal' to be  promiscuous, polygamy and gender inequalities.  The film also highlights the relationship between environment, poverty and HIV/AIDs.

The majority of poor people tend to live in single rooms and it is very difficult to have privacy........'We [would] see elder members of the family when they were having sex. I grew up in that setting.'

He also challenges African leaders for failing to act on the HIV epidemic and for being in denial.

The documentary is to be shown on Channel 4 on the 27th June (UK).

Source: Black Looks: Living with Aids