Breaking the Silence

BREAKING THE SILENCE is an AIDS prevention novella for women that focuses on heterosexual transmission of HIV. It tells the stories of Julia, a young Latina; Carmen, her widowed mother; Lourdes and Micki, her two best friends; and Ivonne, her younger sister.

 

The video portrays the women's relationships with lovers, husbands, and each other. It shows their struggles to protect themselves from HIV and to counteract the community's silence surrounding AIDS.

Each character's story is designed to elicit responses to specific issues related to women and HIV infection, for example, the assumption of partner's monogamy, risk for older women, sexual diversity, domestic violence and unsupportive partners, and family support. Although the video's setting is an urban Latino neighborhood, its messages are for all women.

 

BREAKING THE SILENCE was shot on location in Washington Heights, a predominantly Dominican and Puerto Rican neighborhood in New York City. The script was developed in collaboration with women from the community, actors from New York theater groups such as INTAR, and Spanish speaking behavioral scientists from the HIV Center.

 

Music for the video was provided by Eddie Palmieri and Juan Luis Guerra. The title song is sung by Maridalia Hernandez with special lyrics by Juan Luis Guerra.

 

BREAKING THE SILENCE is available in both English and Spanish.

LENGTH: 56:00
PRICE: $75.00