"Through Positive Eyes" documentary film

This short-form documentary presents the voices and photographs of 12 people in eight countries, all of whom are living with HIV. We see them at work documenting their lives and hear their personal stories. This approach allows them to present themselves as empowered individuals, each confronting the challenges of living with HIV in their own way. Equipped with cameras and after training in how to use them creatively, they address the difficulty of being diagnosed with HIV, the decision to seek treatment, the meaning of life when facing this serious illness, and their struggle against societal stigma. Among the 12 protagonists, within the larger narrative arc, are: Priya, an Indian woman whose family abandons her when she reveals that she has HIV and who builds a new loyal family of goats and a dog; Bee, a self-described trans "ladyboy" in Bangkok, who cannot complete her sex change on account of her HIV status; and Simiso, a young man in Durban, South Africa, whose HIV-negative partner kisses and hugs him when he reveals his HIV status to her, exemplifying a wide range of responses. At this moment in world history, as all of us find ways of coping with COVID-19, it is important to be reminded of the impacts of the HIV pandemic on vulnerable communities around the world. This work was made in the era when life-saving antiretroviral medications were widely available. The protagonists in the film are not facing imminent death like others did earlier in the history of the disease. Nevertheless, their challenges are manifold and we get a visceral sense of the experience of living with HIV in these times. The film addresses a huge global issue in an intimate and tender way.