Winner of the jury award for Best Documentary at NewFest 2003: The New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Louise Hogarth's "The Gift" is bound to be one of the most controversial and alarming films exhibited in Boulder this season, with its unblinking depiction of high-risk sexual behavior. In a climate of rising HIV infections among men who have sex with men and of increasingly ineffective safer-sex education, "The Gift" is a powerful examination of "bug chasers," HIV negative men who consciously seek "the gift" of infection through bareback sex with HIV positive men. The film contrasts portraits of those who willingly become infected‹either because they want to feel connected with their community or because they would rather have HIV than worry about getting it‹with the plight of older AIDS patients who, in spite of medication that has led many to believe that the battle has been won, still suffer the debilitating effects of the disease. Sure to prompt discussion and debate with its powerful message of HIV prevention and its graphic images of sero-conversion "parties," "The Gift" is a courageous exploration of a side of gay culture many would prefer to ignore.

 

A discussion panel will follow the film. More information on The Gift.