SF State News {University Communications}

Image: Photos of SF State students and scenes from around campus

Positive message earns student filmmaking award

January 22, 2010 -- A film by SF State students was named Best Documentary at the Seventh Annual International Student Film Festival in Hollywood.

An image of Janell, one of the HIV positive women whose lives are profiled in the documentary film, "One Sister at a Time."

An image of Janell, one of the HIV positive women whose lives are profiled in the documentary film, "One Sister at a Time."

"One Sister at a Time: Positive Women's Stories" explores the lives of several American women of varying ages and backgrounds who are HIV positive. The collaboration brought together students from several disciplines, including health education graduate student Deborah Craig, geography major Allison Haagensen and cinema students Veronica Deliz, Brett Hickman and Ryan Hildebrant.

 "I think that the appeal of this film is that it centers on personal stories, not statistics," Craig said. "It shows that no one is immune, and real people who happen to be HIV positive are affected by the stigma associated with it."

"One Sister at a Time" was a final project in the Documentary for Health and Social Justice class, which produces films intended to educate and encourage advocacy. It has been screened several times on campus, at City College of San Francisco and other public forums including the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies and the AIDS Health Project at the University of California, San Francisco.
"We see these documentary films as social change tools and, as proven by this award recognition, our standards in the class are very high," said Health Education Lecturer Rachel Poulain, who leads the class with Assistant Professor of Cinema Weimin Zhang. "Students are required to work in partnership with a community-based organization, and each student works on all stages of the process, regardless of their major."

The class is supported by the Health Equity Institute, which is based on campus to encourage integration of research, curricula, community service and training to address health disparities and other issues in the United States.

-- Denize Springer

 

Share this story:

 

 

SF State Home