The Lazarus Effect (film)
Encyclopedia
The Lazarus Effect is a 2010 documentary film about the positive impact of free antiretroviral drug
therapy on HIV/AIDS patients in Africa. It was directed by Lance Bangs
, and executive produced by Spike Jonze
, after an organizer from AIDS awareness group (RED) suggested the project to them. The film features patients and medical staff in Zambia
speaking about their experiences and was produced by (RED) and HBO. It was screened on HBO and Channel 4
in May 2010, and it is also available on YouTube
.
, the 30-minute film tracks several people who were seriously ill but return to a healthier condition in a relatively short period of time after starting free antiretroviral drug
therapy. HIV-positive
patients and medical staff recount their experiences and the impact medication has made on their lives in their own words.
They include Constance Mudenda, a mother whose children all died of AIDS, and who now works as a peer education supervisor at an AIDS clinic; Paul Nsangu, a young husband and father; Bwalya, an 11-year-old girl who at the beginning of the film looks like a child half her age, because of her disease; and Concillia Muhau, a young mother who recovered from the brink of death, and now also works as a peer counselor.
Interviewees describe their illness and recovery; they also speak about the difficulties involved in persuading people to have themselves tested for HIV
, given the severe social stigma that results from a positive test result, and in getting word about the available treatment out to remote rural areas, as well as the logistical problems of providing care to patients who may have to walk for three days to reach a clinic.
. This, along with the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
, provides the majority of funding for AIDS programmes in Africa, including the provision of free antiretroviral drugs to some three million people. Antiretroviral drugs, when taken regularly, are able to restore vitality to HIV-positive people, enabling them to lead normal lives.
Executive producer Jonze asked Bangs to direct the documentary, as Jonze was still busy completing Where the Wild Things Are
. Bangs then made three journeys to Africa in 2009 to make the film, determined "to let the people speak for themselves, rather than have a lot of earnest Western talking heads". Explaining the film concept to the Portland Mercury, Bangs said: "I've seen enough horrible documentaries that objectify people or assign them victimhood status. That was pretty appalling to me, and was not the film I wanted to make. I wanted to talk to people directly and get them to open up and be funny or goofy or whatever personality traits they have that don't usually come out in AIDS documentaries."
Bangs said he was profoundly moved by his experience in Africa: "I had lost friends and teachers to AIDS and AIDS-related illnesses, but at least in the West the drugs are available. In Africa I was shocked at how skeletal our interviewees’ faces were, how their eyes bulged from their sockets. After just a few months on their drugs they were transformed." The film's title is based on the Biblical
story of Lazarus
, whom Jesus raised from the dead, and echoes the feelings of those who recovered thanks to drug therapy.
singer Bono
helped promote the documentary and associated campaign, and gathered a group of A-List celebrities to make an advertisement for it. This featured short scenes, filmed by French photographer Brigitte Lacombe
, with stars like Penelope Cruz
, Javier Bardem
, Ludacris
and others showing the trivial items that can be bought for US$0.40. The documentary itself premiered at the New York Museum of Modern Art
on May 4, 2010. Constance Mudenda and Concillia Muhau, two of the women portrayed in the film, travelled to New York for the premiere.
The documentary was screened on HBO and Channel 4
on May 24, 2010, and also placed on YouTube
.
stated, "It's hard to imagine that there could be a positive story to be told about HIV in Africa – if there is, however, The Lazarus Effect is probably it." Paul Whitelaw, writing in The Scotsman
, called the film "a surprisingly uplifting and quirk-free documentary about growing efforts to curb the scourge of HIV/Aids in Africa [...] A heartening story of hope." Critic Noel Murray of A.V. Club described the film as a "straight-up advocacy doc, designed to get anyone who watches it to open their wallets. And it’s remarkably effective at that."
Sarah Mirk, writing in the Portland Mercury, praised the film for breathing "sincere life and inspiration into the often schlocky world of AIDS movies", saying, "There's no heavy-handed Western narrator here to explain the crisis. There are only the patients and their nurses, all HIV-positive, discussing their lives and laughing in joy at their successes, backed by a lively Chicago brass-band soundtrack rather than the cliché tribal drums or Graceland-style songs. It's a hopeful film. It's a vibrant film."
Antiretroviral drug
Antiretroviral drugs are medications for the treatment of infection by retroviruses, primarily HIV. When several such drugs, typically three or four, are taken in combination, the approach is known as Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, or HAART...
therapy on HIV/AIDS patients in Africa. It was directed by Lance Bangs
Lance Bangs
Lance Bangs is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and music video director who has created videos for Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Green Day, the Arcade Fire, the Shins, The Thermals, Belle & Sebastian, Menomena, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, R.E.M., Mike Watt, Death Cab for Cutie, The Black Keys, Kanye West, and...
, and executive produced by Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze is an American director, producer and actor, whose work includes music videos, commercials, film and television...
, after an organizer from AIDS awareness group (RED) suggested the project to them. The film features patients and medical staff in Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
speaking about their experiences and was produced by (RED) and HBO. It was screened on HBO and Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in May 2010, and it is also available on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
Synopsis
Made in ZambiaZambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
, the 30-minute film tracks several people who were seriously ill but return to a healthier condition in a relatively short period of time after starting free antiretroviral drug
Antiretroviral drug
Antiretroviral drugs are medications for the treatment of infection by retroviruses, primarily HIV. When several such drugs, typically three or four, are taken in combination, the approach is known as Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, or HAART...
therapy. HIV-positive
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
patients and medical staff recount their experiences and the impact medication has made on their lives in their own words.
They include Constance Mudenda, a mother whose children all died of AIDS, and who now works as a peer education supervisor at an AIDS clinic; Paul Nsangu, a young husband and father; Bwalya, an 11-year-old girl who at the beginning of the film looks like a child half her age, because of her disease; and Concillia Muhau, a young mother who recovered from the brink of death, and now also works as a peer counselor.
Interviewees describe their illness and recovery; they also speak about the difficulties involved in persuading people to have themselves tested for HIV
HIV test
HIV tests are used to detect the presence of the human immunodeficiency virus , the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , in serum, saliva, or urine. Such tests may detect antibodies, antigens, or RNA.- Terminology :...
, given the severe social stigma that results from a positive test result, and in getting word about the available treatment out to remote rural areas, as well as the logistical problems of providing care to patients who may have to walk for three days to reach a clinic.
Background
Bangs and Jonze made the film after they were contacted by an organizer from AIDS awareness group (RED). The organizer suggested they film a documentary in AIDS clinics in Zambia, where one out of seven people is HIV-positive, and one person's daily dose of antiretroviral drugs costs about 40 cents according to (RED) – a cost which many patients are unable to afford. (RED)'s member companies use 50 per cent of their profits from (RED) licensing products to contribute to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and MalariaThe Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is an international financing organization that aims to "[a]ttract and disburse additional resources to prevent and treat HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria." A public–private partnership, the organization has its secretariat in Geneva,...
. This, along with the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief
The President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief was a commitment of $15 billion over five years from United States President George W. Bush to fight the global HIV/AIDS pandemic...
, provides the majority of funding for AIDS programmes in Africa, including the provision of free antiretroviral drugs to some three million people. Antiretroviral drugs, when taken regularly, are able to restore vitality to HIV-positive people, enabling them to lead normal lives.
Executive producer Jonze asked Bangs to direct the documentary, as Jonze was still busy completing Where the Wild Things Are
Where the Wild Things Are (film)
Where the Wild Things Are is a 2009 American fantasy drama film directed by Spike Jonze and adapted from Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's book Where the Wild Things Are. It combines live action, performers in costumes, animatronics, and computer-generated imagery...
. Bangs then made three journeys to Africa in 2009 to make the film, determined "to let the people speak for themselves, rather than have a lot of earnest Western talking heads". Explaining the film concept to the Portland Mercury, Bangs said: "I've seen enough horrible documentaries that objectify people or assign them victimhood status. That was pretty appalling to me, and was not the film I wanted to make. I wanted to talk to people directly and get them to open up and be funny or goofy or whatever personality traits they have that don't usually come out in AIDS documentaries."
Bangs said he was profoundly moved by his experience in Africa: "I had lost friends and teachers to AIDS and AIDS-related illnesses, but at least in the West the drugs are available. In Africa I was shocked at how skeletal our interviewees’ faces were, how their eyes bulged from their sockets. After just a few months on their drugs they were transformed." The film's title is based on the Biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
story of Lazarus
Lazarus of Bethany
Lazarus of Bethany, also known as Saint Lazarus or Lazarus of the Four Days, is the subject of a prominent miracle attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus restores him to life four days after his death...
, whom Jesus raised from the dead, and echoes the feelings of those who recovered thanks to drug therapy.
Promotion
U2U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
singer Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
helped promote the documentary and associated campaign, and gathered a group of A-List celebrities to make an advertisement for it. This featured short scenes, filmed by French photographer Brigitte Lacombe
Brigitte Lacombe
Brigitte Lacombe is a French celebrity and film photographer residing in New York City. In May 2009, she published a collection “Lacombe anima/persona” with her photographs covering her work from 1975-2008...
, with stars like Penelope Cruz
Penélope Cruz
Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón, jamón , to critical acclaim...
, Javier Bardem
Javier Bardem
Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem is a Spanish actor. In 2007 he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as sociopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, and has also garnered critical acclaim for roles in films such as Jamón, jamón, Carne trémula, Boca a boca, Los...
, Ludacris
Ludacris
Christopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
and others showing the trivial items that can be bought for US$0.40. The documentary itself premiered at the New York Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
on May 4, 2010. Constance Mudenda and Concillia Muhau, two of the women portrayed in the film, travelled to New York for the premiere.
The documentary was screened on HBO and Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
on May 24, 2010, and also placed on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
Reception
The "Watch This" column in The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
stated, "It's hard to imagine that there could be a positive story to be told about HIV in Africa – if there is, however, The Lazarus Effect is probably it." Paul Whitelaw, writing in The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
, called the film "a surprisingly uplifting and quirk-free documentary about growing efforts to curb the scourge of HIV/Aids in Africa [...] A heartening story of hope." Critic Noel Murray of A.V. Club described the film as a "straight-up advocacy doc, designed to get anyone who watches it to open their wallets. And it’s remarkably effective at that."
Sarah Mirk, writing in the Portland Mercury, praised the film for breathing "sincere life and inspiration into the often schlocky world of AIDS movies", saying, "There's no heavy-handed Western narrator here to explain the crisis. There are only the patients and their nurses, all HIV-positive, discussing their lives and laughing in joy at their successes, backed by a lively Chicago brass-band soundtrack rather than the cliché tribal drums or Graceland-style songs. It's a hopeful film. It's a vibrant film."
External links
- Authorized presentation on Youtube
- The Lazarus Effect, (RED)
- Lazarus Effect HBO Documentary – Pictures from RED Campaign Lazarus Effect, Harper's BazaarHarper's BazaarHarper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
- Product Red Steps Up Its Efforts With ‘Lazarus Effect’, April 29, 2010, mediadecoder blog, New York Times
- Launch of (RED)'s Lazarus Effect campaign, 19 May 2010, Marie ClaireMarie ClaireMarie Claire is a monthly women's magazine first published in France but also distributed in other countries with editions specific to them and in their languages. While each country shares its own special voice with its audience, the United States edition focuses on women around the world and...
- "Bono Promotes 'The Lazarus Effect'", May 4, 2010, Extra
- "The Lazarus Effect: 40 Cent for AIDS", May 4, 2010, talk.excite.de