The series, titled ‘Untold’, forms part of a mass media health communication project led by the Soul City Institute, working in partnership with organisations in eight other southern African countries to address HIV and AIDS. At the series launch in Johannesburg, head of Soul City’s regional programme, Harriet Perlman, said that southern Africa has the highest HIV infection rates in the world.
‘Of the five million new infections globally in HIV recorded in 2005, 3.2 million live in this region. And there’s a strong historical interconnection between the countries: The ever- increasing travel, movement (and) communication between us means that we must act together to stem the tide of this epidemic’¦’ she said.
The films have been made in various languages indigenous to the nine countries where they were produced. These are Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa. They tell moving, true to life tales of love and hope, courage and betrayal, and secrets and lies in a time of HIV and AIDS. ‘Secrets and lies’ is the South African produced film in the series. It tells the story of a young, middle-class, career-driven couple – yet the marriage is sexually and emotionally unfulfilling to both husband and wife. Each then resorts to cheating instead of communicating their unhappiness. Then the wife gets pregnant and is conflicted as to who the father of her unborn baby is. During the pregnancy, she also discovers that she has HIV. ‘Secrets and lies’ was directed by Vincent Moloi.
‘You know what? To be very honest with you, it’s the things that we know. It’s the things that I’ve heard people talk about, and you probably know a few people, and whoever is listening probably knows of a couple that’s going through the same problems of cheating to each other and to themselves’¦ But it’s amazing how we all pretend like we have no idea about it until we see it on the screen’¦ And sometimes I guess that’s why films like this are important’¦ That’s when you realise, ‘wow! This is actually a story of my life, or of my cousin, or of my friends, or even of my parents!’, said Moloi of the film.
‘Secrets and lies’ and the other short films in the ‘Untold’ series will soon be shown on SABC TV.
