Great
review of "The Other City" and mention of it's showing TOMORROW, February 7th, at
Maysles Cinema in Harlem at Get Down's NO MORE STIGMA FILM SERIES! 3.5
of 4 stars! Check it out!
Courtesy of Cabin Films. Photo by Jonah Koch. Drug users in
Washington, D.C. line up to receive clean needles.
THE GET DOWN CAMPAIGN’S NO MORE STIGMA FILM SERIES PRESENTS THE OTHER CITY (Susan Koch, 2010)
Maysles Cinema
343 Malcolm X Blvd. between 127th & 128th Sts.
Thursday, February 7, $10, cocktail reception 6:30, screening 7:30
212-582-6050 www.mayslesinstitute.org www.theothercity.com Washington,
DC, might be famous as a city filled with wealthy politicians,
international ambassadors, ruthless lobbyists, and tourists visiting
some of the finest cultural institutions and historical monuments in the
world, but lurkng in the shadows is a very different story. As revealed
in Susan Koch’s surprising documentary The Other City, the
District of Columbia is in the midst of an HIV/AIDS epidemic that is
actually on par with what many African nations are experiencing.
Click here to read the rest: http://twi-ny.com/blog/2013/02/05/no-more-stigma-the-other-city/
We just witnessed HISTORY. The second swearing
in of the first African American President of the United States. With
an eye on Washington – or is it "DC, The Chocolate City"– we bring you
our No More Stigma Film Series at Maysles Cinema on February 7th - African American HIV Awareness Day.
Maysles Cinema, the GET DOWN Campaign and our event partners A-Marketing, MEGA Personalities, Global Network of Black Pride present the documentary film "The Other City".
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In every city, there's another city that visitors rarely see. But this
other city isn't just anywhere, it's in Washington, D.C. The very city
that is home to the capital of the most powerful country in the world
has an HIV/AIDS rate that is not only the nation's highest, but rivals
some African countries. "The Other City" introduces us to the people
who live in the shadow of the Capitol but remain almost invisible to the
lawmakers and lobbyists who live there.
Produced by Sheila C. Johnson, “The Other City” tells the stories of people who haven’t let lack of
government assistance stop them, and have taken matters into their own
hands. After contracting HIV from a boyfriend who didn’t disclose he
was infected, Jose Ramirez devotes his life to promoting HIV awareness
among Hispanic teens. While living with AIDS and fighting desperately to
keep herself and her three young children from being thrown out of
their home, J’Mia Edwards realizes she can play a role in helping
others. A one-time addict now living with AIDS, Ron Daniels saves lives
by providing clean needles and helping drug users receive treatment.
And finally, the staff of the AIDS hospice Joseph’s House struggles to
provide solace to terminal patients’ last days, to deal with their own
sense of loss, and their constantly declining funding.
Courtesy of Cabin Films. Photo by Jonah Koch. J'mia Edwards,
a young mother living with AIDS, faces a 2-3 year wait for housing.
For these activists, remedies can’t be found within the confines of
an office or a regular schedule: for some the work encompasses
round-the-clock care-giving, and for others a never-ending trek through
the squalid drug dens and clandestine park trails where people engage in
risky behavior. Informal HIV/AIDS organizations are set up wherever
people can congregate to share experiences and offer mutual support.
Still, without financial support, large-scale progress is beyond the
scope of these endeavors. In this environment, forward movement means
providing comfort for the afflicted and saving as many lives as
possible.
Come join us for the screening of "The Other City" at Maysles Cinema. The event will be hosted by Richard E. Pelzer II and Ulysses Williams (Global Network of Black Pride). Doors open for a cocktail reception at 6:30pm and screening starts at 7:30pm. Maysles Cinema is located at
343 Malcolm X Boulevard / Lenox Avenue, between 127th and 128th Street. Two blocks from the #2/#3 trains to 125th Street, near the world famous Apollo Theater. Admission is $10.
WE WERE HERE IS FIRST
DOCUMENTARY TO TAKE A DEEP AND REFLECTIVE LOOK BACK AT THE ARRIVAL AND IMPACT
OF AIDS IN SAN FRANCISCO
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30TH, 2012
At MAYSLES CINEMA
343 Lenox Avenue, New York, NY
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ORGANIZATIONS A-MARKETING, GMHC,
THE LESBIAN GAY BISEXUAL & TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY CENTER
LOGO NETWORK AND POZ MAGAZINE
Still image from We Were Here courtesy of New Yorker Films
The GET DOWN Campaign’s No More Stigma Film Series continues on
October 30th at Maysles Cinema in Harlem, NY with the feature documentary film We Were Here.
We Were Here,
directed by David Weissman, is the
first documentary to take a deep and reflective look back at the arrival and
impact of AIDS in San Francisco. It explores how the City’s inhabitants were
affected by, and how they responded to, that calamitous epidemic.
We Were Here documents
the coming of what was called the “Gay Plague” in the early 1980s. It
illuminates the profound personal and community issues raised by the AIDS
epidemic as well as the broad political and social upheavals it unleashed. It
offers a cathartic validation for the generation that suffered through, and
responded to, the onset of AIDS. It opens a window of understanding to those
who have only the vaguest notions of what transpired in those years. It
provides insight into what society could, and should, offer its citizens in the
way of medical care, social services, and community support.
Filmmakers David Weissman and Bill Weber co-directed the 2001 documentary, The Cockettes, chronicling San
Francisco’s legendary theater troupe of hippies and drag queens, 1969 – 1972. We Were Here revisits
San Francisco a decade later, as its flourishing gay community is hit with an
unimaginable disaster.
The October 30th event will begin with a reception at
6:30pm, the screening at 7:30pm and a post-screening Q&A with director
David Weissman. We Were Here will be
preceded by a short documentary entitled Something About Katie,
directed by Rutger’s
University journalism major Kyle Sweet, created under the GET DOWN Campaign’s
Summer 2012 internship program.
In 2010, the GET DOWN Campaign launched with goal of educating
and spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS to a primary audience of 13-24 year old
teens and young adults and a secondary audience of their care givers. Through social media, blogging, viral
content, events and now the No More Stigma Film Series, GET DOWN continues
using digital media to engage audiences around HIV/AIDS and sexual health. After developing the concept of for the
No More Stigma Film Series, GET DOWN’s founder and executive producer Kim J. Ford approached Maysles Cinema’s Jessica Green, cinema
director, about getting involved.
Says Ford “Since we launched with Harlem’s FACES NY as our charity
partner and are now expanding to partner with Harlem United, it made sense to
approach Maysles
Cinema.” The Maysles Cinema, the only independent film
house north of Lincoln Center in Manhattan, is dedicated to the exhibition of
documentary film. Ford continues “With their roots in the Harlem community,
accessibility, Summer programs for youth, and social issue oriented
programming, we knew Maysles Cinema
was the right partner.” The short
film Something About Katie, produced under GET DOWN’s Summer 2012 Internship Program, is an example of viral content
produced by and about the youth that GET DOWN seeks to reach.
GET DOWN understands that there is a need for more HIV, AIDS,
and overall sexual health awareness.
Additionally, more education is required around gender and sexual
identity. Stigma and shame is still a huge barrier to testing. The
No More Stigma Film Series seeks to stimulate open conversation about HIV,
AIDS, Stigma and Sexual Identity. “The No More Stigma Film Series”, says
Ford, “has as its goal to to reinforce the fact that HIV/AIDS does not
discriminate.”
The No More Stigma Film Series kicked off in June with the
feature documentary The Carrier and a sneak preview of the highly anticipated 25 To Life. The October 30th screening of We
Were Here marks the second of a three event
screening series in 2012. The
final event of 2012 will take place on December 1st – World
Aids Day.
Washington,
DC, might be famous as a city filled with wealthy politicians,
international ambassadors, ruthless lobbyists, and tourists visiting
some of the finest cultural institutions and historical monuments in the
world, but lurkng in the shadows is a very different story. As revealed
in Susan Koch’s surprising documentary The Other City, the
District of Columbia is in the midst of an HIV/AIDS epidemic that is
actually on par with what many African nations are experiencing. 
