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Director Lisa Biagiotti created the
documentary “deepsouth” to examine why the HIV epidemic has grown more rapidly
in the US South than other regions of the country. According to Biagiotti, more
than half of all new HIV infections occurred in the South, which comprises only
37 percent of the US population. Biagiotti stated that she used HIV as a global
positioning system to identify the “most fragile parts” of the country.
Biagiotti noted that HIV advocacy
groups such as urban, white, gay men have been more successful at sharing the
HIV epidemic story than HIV-affected populations in the South. Factors that
obscured the story of the southern HIV epidemic and caused HIV rates to
increase throughout the last 15 years included poverty, lack of education and
access to healthcare, secrecy and discrimination against HIV-infected people,
and limited sex education in schools. She cited one trailer park in which 95
percent of residents had an STD.
To document the “broken social
infrastructure” of the US South and local and regional efforts to address the
HIV epidemic, Biagiotti traveled 13,000 miles and conducted interviews with
more than 400 individuals across the region. The Los Angeles Outfest Film
Festival will show “deepsouth” on July 12 and 15.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus.
To learn more about The Friends of
AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
