Documentary looks at the other side of the nation’s capital
THE OTHER CITY (Susan Koch, 2010)
Chelsea Cinema
260 West 23rd St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
Opens Friday, September 17
www.theothercity.com
www.clearviewcinemas.com
Washington, D.C., might be famous as a city filled with wealthy politicians, international ambassadors, ruthless lobbyists, and tourists visiting some of the finest cultural institutions and historical monuments in the world, but lurkng in the shadows is a very different story. As revealed in Susan Koch’s surprising documentary THE OTHER CITY, the District of Columbia is in the midst of an HIV/AIDS epidemic that is actually on par with what many African nations are experiencing. Although Koch includes frightening statistics about the crisis — between three and five percent of D.C. residents are living with HIV or AIDS, primarily blacks and Hispanics as well as a growing number of women and teenagers — she focuses on a handful of fascinating protagonists who serve as a microcosm for this rampant epidemic that Washington has turned a blind eye to for three decades. J’Mia Edwards, who got infected by a boyfriend who knew he was HIV+ and didn’t tell her, is a single mother of three doing everything she can to keep her family from becoming homeless, but the red tape suffocates her at every step. Ron Daniels, who got infected from a reused needle, is a recovering addict who every day hands out medical supplies, AIDS tests, and love and hope from a van on the street. Jose Ramirez, who contracted AIDS from his much older lover, shares his story with young Latino immigrants in schools and at La Clinica del Pueblo while also handing out condoms in places where gay men go to have unprotected sex. Koch also visits the Courage to Change Group, former prisoners with HIV/AIDS who meet regularly for emotional support, and Joseph’s House, where HIV/AIDS victims such as Jimmy go to die in peace, surrounded by loved ones and dedicated caregivers. Among those adding their opinions are New York Times columnist Frank Rich, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, playwright and activist Larry Kramer, and journalist and documentary coproducer/writer Jose Antonio Vargas, whose reporting in the Washington Post inspired Koch to make the film. THE OTHER CITY is a devastating look at a horrific crisis going on right under the noses of those who can do the most to do something about it.