Tomorrow night is the premiere of Life Support on HBO. It stars Queen Latifah as an HIV-positive woman named Ana who reaches out to her community and tries to make amends for past mistakes. Nelson George directs; the character of Ana is based on his sister. The always-impressive Anna Deavere Smith also stars, as Ana’s mother.
The film was an Official Selection at Sundance a couple of months ago. It’s sort of half fiction, half documentary — many of the “characters” are women from the Brooklyn HIV/AIDS community.
Things like this have a tendency to turn into melodrama and public service announcements, but in this case, who cares? The incidence of HIV/AIDS is skyrocketing among African-American women, so Life Support deserves kudos for drawing attention to the crisis.
The HBO site includes an interview with Latifah, a trailer and other clips, and links to resources.
