Catherine Phiri was a 40 year-old nurse from Malawi, mother of two children, who discovered to be HIV-positive following the death of her husband due to AIDS. Risking isolation and even violence in a conservative society such as that of her country, Catherine decided to speak about her condition in public, and to use her experience and her voice to break the silence surrounding AIDS. She thus became a respected leader and a source of inspiration for many people. The association which she founded in 1994, the Salima HIV/AIDS Support Organization (SASO), is dedicated to the support of AIDS orphans, to the spreading of information on HIV-AIDS and to the assistance and care of AIDS patients. Based entirely on volunteer work, SASO has grown tremendously over the years, reaching thousands of people in the villages of the Salima district.
Catherine Phiri was an exceptional example of the capacity of African women to react to adversities, of their ongoing commitment to new experiences of solidarity, self-organization and social creativity. As her illness was progressing, Catherine continued in her own battle till the very last day, with the same determination and courage which has characterized all her life.


screenings and awards


· Casa della Cultura, Milan 2006

· Castelli Film Festival 2006

· prize best documentary - NIFF Net Independent Film Festival 2006

· XII Conferenza Euromediterranea sul Cinema - Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica - Venezia 2006

· Umanitaria – World Human Rights Rome 2006

· Sguardi Altrove - Milan 2006

· Festival de Films sur les Droits de la Personne de Montréal, 2006

· III International Festival of Cinema and Human Rights, Barcelona, Spain 2005

· City Hide Project, Roma 2005

· Pärnu International Documentary and Anthropology Film Festival, Pärnu, Estonia, 2005

* Festival International des Droits de l’Homme, Parigi 2005

* Circuito Documè, Tourin , 2005
* Università di Siena, Facoltà di

Antropologia Visuale, 2005
* Anteprima Biennale Cinema per la Pace, Pisa 2005

* Stati Generali del Documentario Italiano, Cineteca di Bologna, 2004

* Premio “Libero Bizzarri”, San Benedetto del Tronto, 2004

* Comune di Bologna - Sala del Consiglio Comunale, 2004

* Cinema Lumière, Bologna 2004

A documentary by

Elisa Mereghetti

directed by

Elisa Mereghetti

and Marco Mensa

Cinematographer

Marco Mensa

Distribuited by

Locations

Malawi (Lilongwe, Salima district)





:
Director's note

There are stories which urge to be told, which enter our lives with the same power of a natural event. They become integral part of our existance, they accompany us every day, as an underline which guides all our actions, our thoughts. Thus, almost unwillingly, we become part of these stories. Catherine Phiri’s story for us has been all this. We have approached her soflty, and unfortunately we have been witnesses to the end of her personal battle against AIDS and against prejudice. Catherine didn’t ask us to tell her story, but to do it has become every day a more important, more urgent task. For her and for those who, like her, find the courage to fight and to believe.