Still Around: 30 Years of AIDS, 15 Stories of Hope

This admirably diverse anthology compiles 15 short films about AIDS. Although all are filmed in the Bay Area, the narratives carry universal appeal as subjects share their perspectives on the illness. The storytellers are male and female, black and white, gay and straight, and the directors call on different styles, from experimental techniques to conventional interviews. Here, a woman shares a poem about her status (Hoping, Wishing, Praying), two medical professionals remember their patients (Blur and Ward 86), and a young man and his adoptive father reminisce about his childhood (Instant Dad). "On a personal level," says the optometrist in Blur, "I saw AIDS phobia reinforcing homophobia." In a lighter entry, Anne Siegel's Secrets of a Sister, a member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence talks about his involvement in the activist group while putting on his elaborate makeup, which he keeps in place with hairspray. In two films, Tim Kulikowski and Ian Wolfley's Paws and Daniel Cardone's Construct, dogs give their physically compromised owners a reason to live. Praising the neighbors who help him out, the retiree in Paws says, "Without my dog walkers, I wouldn't be able to have an animal; I wouldn't have the incentive to go on." Other films touch on the subjects of dancing (Ours) and body modification (Ritual). Offering hope for those living with AIDS and for the people in their lives, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)