Brighton is hosting a special charity fundraising screening of Yen Tan’s award winning film 1985 at The Sallis Benney Theatre on Friday April 12 at 7pm.
SET in Texas in 1985, the film tells the story of Adrian, a closeted gay man returning home after several years living in New York City to tell his family that he is dying from AIDS.
It is a beautiful and moving story that explores the agony and impossibility of sharing one person’s pain with the very people that should love and support him.
The film will be shown together with a panel discussion with selected speakers representing different sections of our modern society, talking about living with HIV in the U.K. in 2019.
It will be a unique opportunity to see to see this film and to further discuss how medicine and society have changed from the AIDS epidemic of the 1980’s through to the U=U era of the early 21st century and potential end of HIV.
The event has been organised by Alan Spink and Ash Kotak. Alan is an HIV Activist in Brighton. He is an HIV Peer Mentor and co-facilitates training of HIV Peer Mentors. He is also a patient Representative with The Martin Fisher Foundation in Brighton, works on the TowardsZero HIV Stigma campaign and was the creator of Stiggy the HIV Stigmassaur. Ash is an HIV activist and the driving force behind a campaign for a national memorial for those who have died from AIDS in the UK
The AIDS Memory UK campaign aims to raise £7,500 towards a national tribute to remember those who have died from the syndrome in Britain. The memorial would also celebrate those living with HIV.
Brighton is registered with the UNAIDS Fast-Track Cities Initiative to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 which is feasible if high HIV burden cities around the world fast-track their AIDS responses.
Since its World AIDS Day 2014 launch, Mayors and other municipal leaders have joined forces with civil society representatives to action the Paris Declaration on Fast-Track Cities.
Four core partners – the City of Paris, IAPAC, UNAIDS, and UN-Habitat – are working with Fast-Track Cities in every region of the world to attain this global initiative’s 90-90-90 and zero stigma and discrimination targets by 2020.
At the end of 2018, Brighton and Hove hit the 90-90-90 targets and currently has figures of 93-99-98.
This means that in our city, 93% of people living with HIV have been diagnosed and of those 99% are on treatment, and of those 98% have suppressed their viral load to an undetectable level and are therefore unable to pass the virus onto their partners.
Thousands of men, women, and children died when an AIDS epidemic hit the UK in the 1980s and 1990s.
75% of any profits raised will be donated to the Martin Fisher Foundation and 25% to the campaign to create a National AIDS Memorial.
Event: Charity screening of the film 1985 with guest speakers.
Where: Sallis Benney Theatre, 58-67 Grand Parade, Brighton
When: Friday, April 12
Time: 7-10pm
Cost: £5 – £10
To book tickets online, click here:
You must be logged in to post a comment.