To live is better than to die / by Weijun Chen.

Format:

Video

Author/Creator:

Chen, Weijun.

Contributor:

Alexander Street Press.

Series:

Filmakers Library online

Filmakers library online

Language:

Chinese

Subjects (All):

AIDS (Disease)--China.

AIDS (Disease).

HIV infections--China.

HIV infections.

China.

Genre:

Documentary.

Video recordings.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (59 min.)

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Filmakers Library, 2003.

Language Note:

Chinese, subtitles in English.

Summary:

This is a heartbreaking story from Wenlou, a small village in central China, where 60% of the villagers are infected with HIV. There are at least 250,000 people in seven provinces in central China who were infected as a result of a blood donor program in the early nineties. Impoverished peasants sold their blood to clinics that used unsanitary gathering methods. Nevertheless, the government does not offer any help or compensation, and has supressed protests from the villagers with force. China's health care system has fared poorly in the transition from socialism to capitalism. This is especially evident in the villages. The director spent months in Wenlou with farmer Ma Shengyi and his family. Ma Shengyi, his wife and two of their three children are all infected. He brings to the screen a real-life picture of an ordinary Chinese family devoured by a disease caused by official negligence and then being persecuted by the government in their struggle for help.

Notes:

Originally released as DVD.

Title from resource description page (viewed May 24, 2011).

Electronic reproduction. Alexandria, VA : Alexander Street Press, 2011. (Filmakers library online). Available via World Wide Web.

ALA Notable Films for Adults, 2004

Sundance Film Festival, 2003

OCLC:

747798605

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.