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     *With the television movie “Life Support,” HBO is bringing the topic of HIV back to the forefront. In particular, the movie – premiering Saturday - focuses on the virus’ growth in the African American community and black females in particular.

      Inspired by a true story, “Life Support” follows the life of an HIV-positive Brooklyn mother named Ana Willis who overcame addiction and used her life experience to become an activist against AIDS and ignorance.

      The film has been chosen as the closing night film at the Sundance Film Festival and HBO is teaming up with the NBA and global organizations for a national outreach of the film – screening it across the country.

       Queen Latifah stars as Ana, and executive produces the film along with Jamie Foxx. The film was written and directed by Nelson George, whose sister inspired the film.

      “The point of the film is to really talk about the one thing we don’t want to talk about in the black community…sexuality and how we get down,” George said of the film’s focus. “They’re not talking about it, they’re not getting tested, which is why we have the numbers we have today. It’s why the film exists.”

Queen Latifah, Jamie Foxx & Nelson George

      However, HIV/AIDS is only the surface topic of what the film takes on. George goes even further into the topic, where it hits home – with our mothers, sisters, daughters, etc – African American women; a faction he calls “the invisible group.”

      “Overwhelmingly it’s been straight women – black women, Hispanic women – getting the virus,” he said. “There’s a new group that’s getting it in big numbers. It’s no longer a gay disease in this country. It’s a straight woman’s disease, a minority woman’s disease, and because of that, there are constituencies in this country who aren’t paid attention to too often in the mainstream anyway. So when you compound that – having a virus [too] that most people act like you disappeared, you have a double negative. That’s why the film is kind of a breakthrough. It’s about giving a voice to people who don’t have a voice.”

      That voice comes from the story of his sister who contracted the virus from her husband, an intravenous drug user. She has made it her duty to speak out about the disease and the importance of getting tested.

      “The majority of those becoming HIV positive today are women,” she said. “Like a lot of married women who have never had sex with anybody else, but their husbands. Of course they don’t believe in getting tested because they’re married. I’m living it. I got it from having unprotected sex with my husband. It’s a part of my life everyday.”

      George says that he took dynamics of his own family, particularly his sister Andrea Williams, as well as the community to shape the characters in the film. And while Latifah takes on some of Williams’ story, she explained that Ana is strictly just based on George’s sister. For instance, Latifah’s character is also a drug user, while Williams is not. The actress did spend time with Williams to create the character and prepare for the role, although, she said that the character is definitely no stranger.

      “I grew up in this; I grew up in this area and I experienced some of the same things in some of the same places. The character was never really far from me and that’s part of what attracted me to the role,” she said. “[Williams and I] did talk a lot and had really real conversations about all kinds of things like human experiences and how life can take you down different paths. I needed to share her experience, but also, the character isn’t exactly who she is. I had room to make it my own.”

      Along with Latifah, Foxx added that he too feels the entire African American community is, or at least should be connected to the film. He told reporters that he was in support of the film because it deals not only with the disease, but it illustrates having the strength to go beyond it.

      “What’s beautiful about the movie is that, yes, it’s a movie about HIV, but when you see it, it deals with HIV right off the bat and then it deals with life. You still have a family to raise; still have problems to deal with. People need information on how to live their life after. When you see Queen Latifah and everyone portray these characters its like, ‘This is part of my life, not all of my life.’”

      Foxx, who also lent his musical talents to the film, continued: “To me, what also drew me to the film was not just the HIV/AIDS aspect of it, but the relationship aspects of it. We’re talking about people; people who’ve had their feelings hurt; people who are trying to forgive; and people who can’t forgive. There are so many different themes that weave through this film.”

      Those themes are woven by the stories George created from some real life experiences of his family. He confirmed that the film is a statement about HIV/AIDS, but also a story.

     “My mission ultimately was to make a film about black women,” he explained. “I thought this was a great opportunity to have three or four powerful black women stories. We’re talking about a virus affecting the black female community, and it’s my mission to talk about that community not to have a male interpreter. The whole film comes out of that desire to let black women speak.”

      “Life Support,” also starring Wendell Pierce, Gloria Reuben, Tony Rock, and Tracee Ellis Ross, airs Saturday, March 10 on HBO, with an encore broadcast on March 11 4:25 am.

      For more info on “Life Support” and the backstory, check the HBO website at http://www.hbo.com/films/lifesupport/.

      For information on AIDS support check the Black AIDS Institute at www.blackaids.org or for services, the National Minority AIDS Council at www.nmac.org.

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