Desert Migration

Daniel F. Cardone's documentary focuses on 13 gay men in Palm Springs, CA, who are living with HIV and AIDS. All owe their lives to the introduction of protease inhibitors in the 1990s, which helped to curb the devastation of the AIDS pandemic that ravaged the gay community during the previous decade. But the medication was not a cure, and the film details how each man has learned to live with the disease and maintain a normal life. Some of their activities may seem quotidian—going to work, walking a dog, exercising at a gym—but each man is cognizant of the second chance he has received. This is especially poignant when the men talk about friends lost to AIDS. As one recalls: “People would disappear. You'd see them one week, then you'd see them the next week and they'd look worse. Then you'd never see them again.” But living with HIV/AIDS also carries a stigma that is still associated with the disease—including a surprising level of apprehension from other gay men. Desert Migration is not a wider commentary on the impact of HIV/AIDS—the subjects here hail from a distinct socioeconomic niche, and hope to heal in a desert oasis environment—but it does offer a reminder of the social ramifications of a disease that is still with us. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)