TV networks promote AIDS awareness

Sarah Rodman

We live in a calamitous world.

With each new catastrophe it’s often hard, and potentially dangerous, to focus on a single issue.

Of course with its ties to world poverty, politics and war the AIDS epidemic is much more than just a single issue.

And for those who are beginning to feel as if the disease has largely become an African problem, the Centers For Disease control recently released a study that showed a rise in new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. among gay and bisexual men of all races and that the disease continues to affect African American and Latino men and women in larger numbers.

So it seems fitting that today, World AIDS Day, there is a wide spectrum of television programming designed to educate, agitate and, as hard as it might seem to believe, entertain.

The following is just a sample of some of the networks participating in this day of awareness-raising through documentaries, feature films and public service announcements.

First up is “Yesterday,” airing at 9:00 p.m. on HBO. This deceptively simple yet devastating tale was a Best Foreign Language Film nominee at this year’s Oscars and it’s easy to see why. Sanctioned by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, “Yesterday” tells the quiet tale of South African mother Yesterday. Her daily life in Zululand is a struggle but not without its pleasures as she gardens, chats with other women — whose husbands, like hers, work in Johannesburg — and delights in the company of her young daughter Beauty. The calm of the stunning vistas and ambient music is only disturbed by Yesterday’s persistent cough. It is then shattered by her diagnosis. Yesterday’s courageousness in the face of the stunning reactions of her husband and fellow villagers will break your heart and, in its very personal and detailed fashion, evoke global parallels.

“Orphans of Nkandla” on Cinemax at 7:00 p.m. is similarly heartrending and serves as a real-life counterpart to “Yesterday” as it follows the children of three families affected by the disease.

For the younger set, MTV is presenting the “think: Sexual Health” campaign. At 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. the music network will air the documentary “think Again: Sex Myths Revealed,” a joint production with the Kaiser Family Foundation, that aims to dispel misconceptions about sexually transmitted diseases. MTV News will also air segments throughout the day examining the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S. and abroad. Public service announcements will direct viewers towards more information on testing and contraception.

Sister station VH1 is airing “AIDS: A Pop Culture History” at 1:30 p.m. The documentary chronicles the media’s response to HIV/AIDS in popular entertainment from real-life figures like Rock Hudson and Magic Johnson to fictional characters. The network will also re-air the soul-searching African trek of R&B songbird India Arie and actress Ashley Judd in “Tracking the Monster” at 7:30 p.m.

As part of its Rap it Up HIV/AIDS public awareness initiative, BET (Black Entertainment Television) will air episodes of series such as “The Parkers” (8:00 p.m.) and “Girlfriends” (8:30 p.m.) dealing with HIV issues as well as the new original film “A Multitude of Mercies” (9:00 p.m.) The story details a minister’s (Tim Ross) struggles with HIV/AIDS issues in his church and features cameos from Malcolm Jamal-Warner (“The Cosby Show”) and R&B singer Raheem DeVaughn.

Of special interest to Bostonians will be “iThemba Hope” airing on the Sundance Channel at 4:00 p.m. This film follows The Sinikithemba Choir — whose mission is to bring the world’s attention to the more than 5 million South Africans who are HIV positive — trip to Boston for a performance at an international AIDS conference.

Winnie Mandela, Colin Powell and Kofi Annan are among those featured discussing medical treatment and other issues in Showtime’ s ”Pills, Profits, Protest: Chronicle of Global AIDS Movement” airing at 7:00 p.m.

You’ll have to set your VCR or TIVO but the day can be concluded on an uplifting note with “Ending AIDS: The Search for a Vaccine” at 2:00 a.m. on PBS affiliate WGBX-Ch. 44. Narrated by Richard Gere, this 2005 documentary tells the story of the people and organizations leading the global hunt for a cure.