NASHVILLE,
Tenn. ñ A film examining the spread of AIDS around the world will be
screened at Vanderbilt University on Thursday, Nov. 20, followed by a
panel discussion and reception.
The public is invited to the free showing of A Closer Walk, which
begins at 7 p.m. at Sarratt Cinema on the Vanderbilt campus. The
College of Arts and Science is sponsoring the event. The screening is
presented by the Global Health Council, which works to save lives by
improving health throughout the world (www.globalhealth.org).
A Closer Walk, directed
by Robert Bilheimer and produced by Bilheimer with the Global Health
Council, documents people with HIV/AIDS from all walks of life. Filming
was done in Uganda, South Africa, Haiti, Switzerland, India, Nepal,
Ukraine and Cambodia, and New York, Kansas City, San Francisco and
Cambridge in the United States.
The
film is narrated by actors Glenn Close and Will Smith. Bilheimer also
directed "Cry of Reason," the Academy Award-nominated documentary about
South African anti-apartheid leader Beyers Naude.
"Thirteen
million people in Africa alone have died because of AIDS, and 6,500
more are dying every day there," said Jennifer Eaton, a Vanderbilt
student and national faith outreach coordinator for DATA (Debt, AIDS,
Trade, Africa), the organization started by Bono of rock group U2 to
lobby for more AIDS help and debt relief for Africa and the Caribbean.
"Given
these facts, we should do the right thing and petition politicians here
to support debt relief and more money to fight the epidemic."
Eaton and Josh Lozman, Global Health Council grassroots coordinator, will lead a discussion following the screening.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS