Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - June 29, 2007
John W. Cox
But instead of Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg sauntering into the Kodak Theatre, about 80 people, mostly teenagers, walked into the University of Miami's Mailman Center for Child Development to watch the premiere of three student-made films whose message was HIV prevention.
The films, created in part by South Florida students, touched on different elements of the growing HIV problem among America's youth, especially in South Florida, where AIDS rates are among the highest in the country.
About 1.2 million people in the United States live with HIV or AIDS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 25-and-under group is one of the fastest-growing segments of new HIV/AIDS cases, particularly among blacks and Hispanics.
"We know these kids don't listen to boring stats," said Alex Moreno, head of Promote to Prevent, a program run by UM's adolescent medicine division, which organized the event held Wednesday afternoon. "I've always felt you have to do different things for these kids or you don't get through to them."
Promote to Prevent collaborated with Miami Beach-based Little Director, a company that makes films out of children's drawings, to produce the movies, which lasted about three minutes each. Teens came up with ideas, mapped out a script and produced the storyboards before doing voice-overs for the animated characters in each movie.
"I would just like teenagers to be aware of how easy it is to contract HIV," said Maria Rivera, a recent graduate from Miami Jackson Senior High School. Rivera, along with her fellow seniors, made the film Butterfly, which told the story of a girl forgiving the person who gave her HIV. The two other films -- Secret Cycle and Growing Apart -- were made by students from Switchboard of Miami, a counseling service, and Young Girls to Young Ladies, an after-school program.
Promote to Prevent provides anonymous HIV and STD testing, education and counseling for young people ages 13 to 24.
Previously, the program has presented music, skits and other activities to educate area youths about dangerous diseases, often through community agencies and schools.
"The kids were very passionate about it from the beginning," said Yuri Velasquez, a program instructor. "We make it fun."
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