Atlas2018 makes a film about Russian HIV activists

The team of the Dutch project Atlas2018 came to Moscow to shoot a series of video interviews with people living with HIV in Russia. These interviews will be part of the film on HIV positive people from Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Atlas2018 will present it at the 22nd International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam in July 2018, which will pay particular attention to the EECA region.

"The Warriors" project focuses on the activists in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. "It’s no common knowledge that in this part of the world the rate of HIV infection is growing fast," the authors say. "But in all countries in this region you’ll find dedicated individuals and motivated organizations who fight for better access to medication, for better health care and for establishing a prevention policy. A few of these true heroes who fight for a better future for HIV and AIDS patients you’ll find on this project."

The Atlas2018 artistic director and writer Erwin Kokkelkoren, photographer Marjolein Annegarn and film director Willem Aerts came to Moscow. The first filming took place in the Moscow office of Life4me.plus. Journalists talked to Alex Schneider about his life with HIV, his activism and the Life4me.plus application and website. During this week the Dutch team will also interview members of the "Shagi" Foundation  ("The Steps"), CEO of Phoenix+ NGO from Orel Yevgeny Pisemsky and other HIV positive activists.

As the director Erwin Kokkelkoren told to Life4Me.plus, the task of Atlas2018 project is to show faces and give a voice to people living with HIV. The global goal set by Atlas2018 team for the next three or four years is to interview people living with HIV from all the communities and all the continents to create a holistic view of the situation in the world and to hear the real-life stories.

Multimedia project Atlas2018 was founded in 2014 by Erwin Kokkelkoren and Bert Oehle.