Aan niets overleden : New film celebrates Surinamese community survival

Cause of death : Nothing

A documentary by Andre Reeder (1996, 52’)

Filmmaker Andre Reeder saw a friend whom he thought had AIDS, but neither he nor the friend talked about it. When Andre heard from this friend’s brother that he had died, Andre knew it was from an AIDS-related cause, but the friend’s brother was quick to say, "Oh, no, it was from nothing." It is this denial and dismissal that Andre Reeder addresses in this much needed film about the experiences of Surinamese and Indian people living with AIDS in Holland. AIDS is a taboo subject within this community but one that the participants in this film are keen to break.

Andre Reeder has brought together a range of experiences from a variety of people, testimonies that are moving, informative, and tender. We, the audience, meet Ethel Pengel, a grandmother who works once a week in a café where women who are HIV positive meet and talk and support each other. Ethel tells how some Surinamese women are afraid to tell a man to wear a condom for fear of losing him to another woman who doesn’t demand that he wears a condom. We hear from one of Ethel’s daughters who didn’t initially want to be in the film because of the stigma attached to AIDS and the ways this would affect her son. Her eventual participation makes the film stronger and shows how the film making process in itself has been an educator for her.

Shanti Parag, a gay Indian Surinamese man who is supported by his brothers and sisters shares with us his anxieties about organising his own funeral. When we hear his brother talking about his love for Shanti, we realise how important it is for so many migrants to have the support of our families.

This film is a wonderful mix of songs of resistance, performance pieces, and interviews with people living with AIDS in Holland. It manages skillfully to bring out the complexity of culture, race and sexuality through personal experiences. M

Reviewed by Pratibha Parmar (London)

Two versions are available : With English subtitles (26’) : Migranten TV, Rembrandt Plein 17, 2nd floor, 1017 CT Amsterdam. Tel : +31 20 535 3535. Fax : +31 20 638 4001. Price : [florin]150. Without subtitles (52’) from NYGZ, Postbus 500, 3440 AM Woerden, tel : +33 1 348 43 76 00, fax : +31 348 43 7666. Price : [florin] 28.50 + s/h.