The Project

http://www.lifeboatfilms.org/

When we step into the lives of the people we film, we make a commitment to join them in their journey and to keep documenting their process of dealing with HIV and stigma. With your support, we can continue this process and use these films to educate young people in schools, doctors in hospitals and most importantly inspire and empower people living with HIV.

 

"We can only hate at a distance. We can only love and understand through closeness." 

Christine Feldman

 

In the Lifeboat Project, we work with men, women and children making intimate films in which they share secrets that they have lived with for years. One of the women in the project has kept her HIV a secret from her daughters for 12 years because she fears discrimination especially towards her girls. This happens often, irrespective of country, gender, race, sexual orientation and social background. People with HIV tell us that the stigma and misinformation about HIV is their biggest problem.  Seeing a film of an HIV positive person living like anyone else can be a lifeline for someone newly diagnosed as well as those who care for him/her. Seeing a child loving an HIV positive parent reminds us to see the human being first and not just the illness. 

 

The Lifeboat Project uses media in a way that I have not yet seen: by following families over time and allowing them to be the architects of the content, they build space for empathy. No fast messages or sensational stories but a realisation that love, honesty and openness can transform the way we both respond to and view this epidemic.

Prof Peter Piot, Former Executive Director of UNAIDS

 

The Team

 

We are a team of documentary filmmakers with a strong interest in new media projects that create social change. Our films dont just get screened, they get used by people who need them.

 

Manuela Maiguashca - Executive Director

Moniek Wester Keegstra - Producer/Director

Anca Toader - Producer/Director

 

The Impact

 

Our films have been broadcast on Dutch television and screened in international film festivals. But they reach further than that. They are being used, at a grassroots level, in Dutch hospitals by HIV specialists, by International organisations fighting for the rights of HIV positive people (ex: UN Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Dance 4 Life, AIDS Action Europe) and most importantly, by participating families who use the films to disclose to friends and family. Furthermore, the films help doctors, health professionals and policy makers hear first hand the real, sometimes hidden problems that many of our participants have faced.

 

 

Where It's At

 

In 2009 we won, in competition with 12 other national projects, a Digital Pioneers Academy Award for the design of the Lifeboat platform. The Digital Pioneers Academy is part of Kennisland, a Dutch think tank developed by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. It is dedicated to supporting innovative social action projects. This money funded the design and launch of the first phase website and the post-production of the film clips you can now see online. 

 

In 2010, we received grants from the Open Society Institute, Dutch HIV Association and Mamma Cash. Since then, weve screened our work in many communities to see how these films can be used to help people living with HIV/AIDS the feedback has been great! Many European non-profit organisations and outreach programmes are using our films to support affected families, to train health professionals, and educate young people.

 

We have many people that have now signed up for Lifeboat and would also like a chance to talk about their daily lives and how being HIV positive affects them. Every 12 seconds someone is infected with HIV.  Chances are you know someone living with HIV or if you have children maybe they have a classmate or teacher with HIV. The people affected by HIV who work with us want to talk to you.

 

Research shows that the more we talk and share, the less taboo HIV becomes. And that is a very powerful way to make testing, prevention and treatment more effective.  Every film we make provides tools to become more open about an HIV status not just for that person but for others as well. 

 

Our films have been described by an HIV positive mother as "better than medecine". 

How The Funds Will Be Spent

 

We need $7,000 to continue filming. This amount covers the basic production costs: travel, filming and some of the editing and post-production costs. The remaining costs for editing and post-production will be covered through our unpaid work. 

We want to film "Promise" who has just told her 2 daughters that she is HIV positive and that the youngest daughter is HIV positive too. She has been living with this secret for 12 years. 

 

After everything she has been through (escaping Zimbabwe, losing her husband who committed suicide when he found out he was HIV positive, becoming a refugee in Europe, being separated from her two young daughters for 6 years) she has finally decided to break her silence. The young girls are still shocked by the news. The youngest, who is infected, is now faced with the decision: should she tell her classmates, friends, and family? Her mother described living with the secret as soul-destroying. At the moment, the young girl is pretending that her medicine is for asthma. But its hard to keep this up. Eventually she will have to tell a boyfriend. But how? 

 

Every film we make helps her to share. Every film we make helps educate her peers, her friends, her teachers. Not just about the illness but about what it feels like to be HIV positive.  

 

What If We Exceed Our Funding Goals?

 

Every penny will go to making more films and to helping each family use the films to tell their families, friends and communities. This means production of the media, making that available in different formats to enable families to email a film, send a link, screen a DVD, or organize HIV awareness workshops in a church, a sports club, a classroom, an office to educate and open up dialogue about what it is like to live with HIV. If we fail to raise to full amount of 7,000 we wont be able to film Promise. Depending on how much money this campaign will raise well decide how we can make best use of it well keep you informed about how we spend every penny. 

 

Other Ways You Can Help

 

Join us on Facebook (http://on.fb.me/g8949A) and on Twitter @Lifeboat_HIV and help us spread the word. Visit our website http://www.lifeboatfilms.org/ and share it with your friends, co-workers and community leaders. Tell them about this unique web-documentary. Post the Indiegogo link on your Facebook page, share it in your blog, on your website, on twitter, on Google+, through email, or just talk about it and, please, do this as often as you can. Every positive message sent out helps build awareness, interest and support for the project. 

 

Our Thanks! 

 

If any of you have children, then you know how important it is to "fit in" and feel worthy. How important it is to development, happiness, and learning. Living with secrets, shame and fear is the worst possible thing a child could have to take on. Its also heartbreaking for a parent. Your contribution can make a huge difference to many men, women and children struggling to live normal lives in an environment that can often feel very unaccepting. If you or someone you love has ever experienced anything like this please help us.