Sample:
Press Release for Lovett Productions

For Immediate Release: December 2002
Contact: Lovett Productions, 212-242-8999
stateofdenial@lovettproductions.com

HIV/AIDS in the Spotlight at 2003 Sundance Film Festival

State of Denial, a revelatory film about the AIDS epidemic in South Africa, has been accepted into the Festival's Documentary Competition

LOS ANGELES, CA (December 3, 2002) -- The Sundance Institute announced today that State of Denial, an unprecedented and unflinching look at how nearly five million South Africans are living with the AIDS epidemic amid a climate of confusion and governmental neglect, has been accepted into the 2003 Sundance Film Festival Documentary Competition. The Festival, which runs January 16 to 26 in Park City, Utah, received more than 500 documentary submissions this year; only sixteen were selected for competition.

In August 2000 South African President Thabo Mbeki shocked the world when he said: "Does HIV cause AIDS? How can a virus cause a syndrome? It can't!" But not only has President Mbeki questioned whether HIV causes AIDS, he's also questioned the safety of commonly prescribed AIDS drugs and eliminated their use pending further research.

Today, nearly five million South Africans live with HIV/AIDS, and another 2000 are infected each day, according to the Centers for Disease Control. But because of the government's policies and a drug company monopoly, most of those infected do not receive treatment.

"When I saw this film, I was bowled over," says Josh Ruxin, a project director at the Center for Global Health and Economic Development at Columbia University. "State of Denial is the single best, most insightful explanation of the challenge facing countries with relatively good resources to fight AIDS but whose efforts are failing."

Filmed over two years during the most tumultuous period in African health politics, State of Denial weaves the dramatic events surrounding President Mbeki's minority stance with the very personal stories of individuals and families struggling to survive with HIV/AIDS amid the climate of confusion and neglect perpetuated by their government.

"I was inspired to make this film because I felt that the international programs I was seeing about AIDS in Africa did not reflect my experience with the epidemic or the people infected with it and affected by it," says director and native South African Elaine Epstein. " And, I felt it was imperative to expose the global health inequities, unfair trade agreements, profiteering pharmaceutical practices, and unjust government policies that randomly determine who lives and who dies."

Among the characters we meet in this compelling documentary are: Mary, an HIV-positive mother of two HIV-infected children who fights to get access to treatment; Zackie Achmat, an activist and founder of Treatment Action Campaign who courageously takes on the South African government and the drug companies to win all citizens access to affordable treatment -- all the while eschewing treatment for his own illness; Donna, an HIV-infected middle class white South African who is taking an expensive medication to prevent transmitting the disease to her unborn son; Lucky Mazibuko, a journalist who writes a weekly newspaper column on living with AIDS, despite the fact that other South Africans have been killed for disclosing their status; Buyile Montjane, a retired nurse who travels several hours each day to provide what little comfort she can to terminally ill patients; Dya Moodley, a young research scientist fighting for implementation of mother-to-child transmission intervention; South African Health Minister Mantu Tshabalala-Msimang, a supporter of President Mbeki's minority views on the cause of AIDS and his treatment policies.

While each character's story focuses on the intimate telling of their own personal experience, all embody the struggles of the South African people and the challenges they face in confronting the controversy surrounding the AIDS crisis in their country. The result is an insightful investigation of humanity persevering in the face of unimaginable atrocity.

Lovett Productions, the co-presenter of this film with Curious Pictures, will team up with Active Voice to harness the powerful, emotional content of State of Denial and use it as the basis for a strategic community engagement campaign in both the U.S. and South Africa. The campaign will strive to help communities discuss social injustice and get involved in problem solving, as well as persuade national leaders to re-examine AIDS in a global context. The campaign, which will be launched at the Sundance Film Festival, is intended to achieve long-term sustainable outcomes on various levels and throughout a range of diverse communities.

About the Filmmaker
A native South African, Elaine Epstein has an insider's understanding of the country's AIDS crisis. During a decade working in public health she developed HIV/AIDS mass media and education campaigns and played an active role in the development of the country's AIDS policy. State of Denial is Epstein's documentary film directorial debut. Previous credits include: Associate Producer of the Peabody Award-winning Cancer: Evolution to Revolution (HBO) and Writer/Producer of Closing in on Cancer (Discovery Health Channel).

About the Producer
Joseph Lovett, Executive Producer, has made a reputation for championing health issues through the art of documentary film and television. While a producer at NBC News 20/20 during the 1980s he produced the first in-depth AIDS investigations for national television, and later as an independent, he produced and directed In a New Light, an annual broadcast of AIDS education and out-reach specials. Joe is also the founder of Lovett Productions.

State of Denial is a Lovett Productions and Curious Pictures Presentation made possible by generous support from The Ford Foundation, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Andrew Tobias & Charles Nolan, Rand S. April, Richard & Kathleen Levin Family Fund and The Beuth Foundation.