Film About HIV-Positive Woman Opens in South Africa, To Be Featured in Two Film Festivals

South African filmmaker Daryl James Roodt's film, titled "Yesterday," about an HIV-positive woman who contracted the virus from her husband is scheduled to open Friday in South Africa, Agence France-Presse reports. The film, which is the first full-length film made in the Zulu language, also is scheduled to be shown at the Venice and Toronto film festivals later this year. The film is set in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where 25% of women are estimated to be HIV-positive, the highest prevalence rate in the country, according to Agence France-Presse. The film also "portrays the fear and ignorance associated with HIV/AIDS," Agence France-Presse reports. Roodt said that the film aims to show the effect of HIV/AIDS on people living in rural areas of South Africa, and he hopes it inspires viewers to help fight the disease. "We decided to do a story that is, in one sense, quite simple but that also takes the viewer through a journey in a way that they are impacted by it," Roodt said. The film was shown at the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, in July, where it received a standing ovation (Agence France-Presse, 8/26).