BRITTANI HAMM | staff writer

11,800 people are infected every day. But, what does that ultimately matter to you? You aren't infected.

You’ve seen the horrific statistics. You’ve heard the heart-wrenching stories. Some of you may have even taken the journey via the AIDS Experience Tent two weeks ago on Trinity Lawn. So, it certainly won’t surprise you that AIDS, a preventable disease, is now the leading killer of people under the age of 60 in the world.

“I think in a lot of ways we have to get rid of our preconceived ideas about HIV/AIDS and start from scratch. We grew up with AIDS,” UCLA graduate Blake Ewing, 22 said. “So, I think we have to embrace that and say, we’re living with that reality; we grew up with it, so now we have to create our own ideas and struggle with it.”

Every year, Botswana hosts a beauty pageant much like those prominent in the United States. But this is no ordinary beauty pageant. The winners do not receive crowns; participants win something else: dignity.

The purpose of the pageant is not to glorify the disease, but to de-stigmatize HIV. Now, “Miss HIV Stigma Free” is more than the title given to a pageant winner; it’s a documentary exposing the social, moral, and legal issues pertaining to HIV/AIDS.

As the name suggests, all the contestants are HIV positive, a label that often leads to isolation and discrimination in African communities.

“Miss HIV,” an Ethnographic Media film, highlights the international debate regarding HIV/AIDS policies through the story of two HIV-positive women who enter the pageant in Botswana. The documentary premiered on Friday, Nov. 9, at the Artivist Film Festival at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. The Motion Picture Association of America has rated the film PG-13 for some mature thematic material.

“I believe that [as college students] you’re at a time in your life where you’re asking: What does my life mean? What do I believe? Can I make a difference? And I see these college students saying, ‘Don’t just tell me that stuff. You’ve told me that stuff.’ I see them asking the big questions,’” Director, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor for “Miss HIV” Jim Hanon said. “I see the most potential and passion sitting there, and I think that if that group can be empowered, and I mean really empowered, so that they own it and they do it, that’s the group that can change it. I think that’s what you see in Uganda.”

Uganda has seen substantial reductions in new AIDS infections due to behavioral change, according the U.S. Agency for International Development. Uganda promoted the ABC program, an acronym which stands for 3 principles: Abstinence, Be faithful, Condom.

“The youth in Uganda changed this around. They did something, so if you’re here and you ‘can’t’ do something, well, try being in Uganda and thinking you can do something. You’ve got more opportunity here than they did, but they just came together and made a difference,” Hanon said. “That’s the potential that I think young people have on all the issues of our time.”

Instead, Hanon chose to highlight Botswana, Africa, to represent the pro-condom position of the debate on condom versus abstinence promotion.

Botswana is known for their adherence to laws protecting its citizens’ human rights, which includes the right to have sex, and the desire to be open about the issue of AIDS according to Ditshwanelo, the Botswana Center for Human Rights website.

“As young girls, even if it’s in another part of the world, sex is so targeted today and [the media] doesn’t show the price to pay for that,” 14-year-old Fontana, CA resident Rachael Henry said. “It is very tempting, especially as you get older, to have sex. But there were young girls saying, ‘We’re going to wait.’”

In the film, prominent leaders such as Bill and Melinda Gates and President Bill Clinton, feature issues such as what it means to “control sex” and the debate between abstinence versus condom promotion in speeches.

“I love how they featured the conversations and dialogue from AIDS Conference Toronto 2006, and how certain global leaders are approaching their responses,” director of World Missions Chiraphone Khamphouvong said. “It’s very well-balanced, of awareness and awakening, and APU needs to concern themselves with that.”

Hanon’s documentary examines the two central ideologies that are essential to understanding the complication of the AIDS crisis.

“One ideology says, “let’s lessen the risk.” The other ideology says, “here’s a way to actually prevent the disease,” Ewing said. “Don’t tell people what to do, I believe in giving people the facts and allowing them to make a choice.”

However, some viewers came away seeing the film with an overall conservative bias.

“I was really surprised that they were talking about abstinence in such a [positive] way- that [it] was actually the cause for HIV to be going down,” Biola University film major Shanna Sletten said. “They were able to have kind of a thread of faith that was mixed in, but [it was] not in your face.”

Throughout the screening audience members appeared thoroughly engaged in the film, leaning forward in their chairs, literally on the edges of their seats.

“Even though there’s a great challenge of [responding to] the pandemic, it also gives you a hope that as individuals or groups we can actually defeat the disease. So it leaves you with a hopeful note and that’s something that I was looking for, because it can be very disheartening,” Khamphouvong said.

The soundtrack included artists such as Mr. Del, Caleb that Bridge, Krik Whalum and The Newsboys. Hanon personally sent the Newsboys a letter asking them to work the film crew, as well as contribute to the soundtrack. They enthusiastically consented.

The film is set for a limited theatrical release in the U.S., but, ultimately, Hanon hopes to screen it internationally.

“We screened this film in Africa. Six people in that audience came up and said, ‘I’ve never told anybody before: I have HIV,’” Hanon said. “I’d make the film just for those six people. No longer are they under that burden of shame that they can’t share or get help.”

Bill Hane, Senior Vice President/Executive Producer of Bearing Fruit Communications, is currently in contact with Khamphouvong to determine if the film will be shown at APU.

“I think that it is one of the more current, up to date documentaries regarding the pandemic of the HIV/AIDS,” Khamphouvong said. “We, as a community of faith, need to be aware and concerned about what is happening worldwide.”

It is impossible to ignore the severity of the statistical data presented in “Miss HIV.” This isn’t just about Africa, drug abusers, or homosexuals anymore.

“I think the greatest thing about it is it opens questions. It subtly presents its side, but it really opens a discussion,” Ewing said.

This, Hanon explained, was the main point of the film: to get people to think deeply and discuss the issues in the world that matter.

“Jesus was a rabbinical teacher, and he made sure that his audience for the stories had the obligation to take some action themselves. He didn’t complete the story for them,” Hanon said. “So, here’s a story. It has meaning. What are you going to do about it?”