Just knowing there are thousands of AIDS orphans
in the poorest regions of China is enough to turn one's heart,
but seeing them is infinitely more gut-wrenching. The
Blood of Yingzhou District is one of those rare films
that is so moving that it is totally cathartic in the moment,
and continues to affect you for a long time.
The film shows the impact of AIDS on the poorest
of the poor in a rural province of China. Due to illegal blood
sales by a large percentage of the population to supplement
their meager income, up to 10% of the population of some regions
has AIDS and this leaves thousands upon thousands of orphans,
sometimes infected themselves. Because there is no education
about the disease, these orphans are ostracized and left to
live the most extreme lives of destitution and hopelessness.
Filmmakers Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon examined this phenomenon
intimately in the film, following several orphans over the
course of their struggles to overcome their illness, their
communities' fear, and their own tumultuous emotions.
There is little stylistically that distinguishes
Blood from other short documentaries, but the subject
and the suffering exposed within makes up for any lack of
originality on the parts of the filmmakers. The most disturbing
story is that of young Gao Jun, a mute child whose age is
unknown, who has lost both parents to AIDS and lives as an
outcast of his own family. He eats and sleeps in a delapidated
room off from his uncle's house, along with the chickens and
pigs. At he beginning of the film, he is seen with what appears
to be mange, and is covered from head to toe in sores and
flea bites. While he is not the only orphan shown in the film,
his is the core storyline, and seeing him happy (and speaking,)
with a foster family at the end of the film brought tears
to my eyes.
The other children are the uninfected Huang
children and HIV positive Nan-Nan. The Huangs are cared for
by their aunt, but are completely ignored and berated by their
peers in school. To get he last word, they dedicate their
lives to studying. both to become doctors and to show their
fellow students that they are as good, if not better, than
anyone unaffected by AIDS. Nan-Nan lives at a non-profit home
for AIDS orphans where she receives care and medication, but
her older sister is on the verge of leaving her to keep from
being outcast herself for having a sister with the virus.
All three of the stories are extremely powerful,
and truly made an impact on me, but the most moving is that
of Gao Jun. The overwhelming backdrop of complete ignorance
to AIDS, its causes and treatments within the community is,
in many ways, even more disturbing, because for every story
we see, it goes unsaid that there are countless others not
even mentioned. As hard as parts of the film were to watch,
it was a small amount of pain I an thankful I was able to
experience to better understand and empathize with the plight
of so many children.
I am glad I was able to see the film, and also
to find out that it will be aired next year on World Aids
Day (December 1) on HBO. All four of the nominated short documentaries
will soon be released in one program nationwide, similar to
how the narrative shorts are currently released. If for no
other reason than to see The Blood of Yingzhou District,
I recommend you do whatever it takes to attend a screening.
