February 2019
AIDS ZONE: CROWDFUNDING
Dear all,
We launched our crowdfunding campaign just two days ago and we have already raised nearly 20% of the first goal. Your support matters a lot and I would like to thank you personally for your generosity. I am overwhelmed and totally determined to make my first documentary happen.
I want to make this project global and I will continue to raise social awareness about the problem of AIDS, that does not have borders.
Today I am reaching out to public figures and opinion makers in Belarus. in Europe and all around the world. Together, we can make the world a better place. I will also continue to look for a producer who could guide me trough my journey.
Let’s carry on!
Yours,
AV
ANDREI VAITOVICH
DIRECTOR
“I’m a journalist/editor and member of the International Federation of Journalists. I was born in Belarus, started writing for a local newspaper at 15, and later moved to Lithuania for continue my studies. I’ve lived across Europe, settling in France, where I have worked for RFI, RFE/RL & Voice of America and Euronews. Motivated by human interest stories, I decided to make something greater than the standard two-minute TV package. This project, inspired by personal experiences, is also a way to recover from its traumas.”
Video
AIDS ZONE: editing
We have spent 3 days with Jan, editing our rushes and putting everything together. It’s been an intense, but very productive week. Few hours of rough videos, three interviews, music search and we have finally finished our work. One day to go before the launching. The journey has just begun.
AIDS ZONE: digging into archives
One of the most interesting and important part of this journey was to dig into archives of the local TV station “Ranak”. There are VHS and DVDs from 1992 to digital videos from nowadays. They have one goal – to keep the most significant events and current affairs in the town’s memory. I’ve watched dozens of interviews with the then drug addicts – many of them have already died…
ANDREI MATALYHA
CAMERA
“I graduated from the Baltic Film and Media School (Estonia) and have worked on professional film sets, as well as making commercials and corporate videos. My main interest is documentary cinematography. This location of this feature film has a unique atmosphere, and even during pre-production we had met a very strong lineup of characters there. This story has to be told in very strong, visual language.”
JAN SUPA
EDITOR
“I’m a half-Belarusian freelance video editor and theatre videographer from Lithuania. This film is important because the issue of AIDS in Eastern Europe has been vastly under-reported. There remain many myths and social stigmas associated with the condition, and it is crucial to talk about it, disseminating information, so that people truly realize that AIDS is not a death sentence.”
YANA LIASHKOVICH
RESEARCHER
“I’m an editor at the Baltic edition of Novaya Gazeta. I grew up in Belarus and know the social context of the country. This film is highly important as it gives a sense of the AIDS issue in Eastern Europe. For Belarusians, the town of Svietlahorsk is notorious as a “no-go zone” due to the HIV epidemic there. For many years, we have witnessed how media clichés have replaced people and their tragedies. It is now time to make a change.”
