Voice For The Voiceless touches on a highly relevant topic. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the dissemination of information about HIV. However, despite the public outreach, the majority of the Russian people continue to misinterpret this disease, considering it to be extremely deadly and those infected extremely dangerous for the society. Many people do not know how they should act around people with HIV, nor how to act if they themselves were found HIV-positive. People are facing a lot of questions and have the right to hear the answers.

This film aims to overcome the stigma and discrimination against people with HIV, break stereotypes and misconceptions. The success of any film lies in the apt choice of character. If the character has an interesting, versatile, and true personality, viewers will want to identify with them. Considering the stigmatization of HIV and tuberculosis, it’s natural that one would expect the film to follow someone who is socially disadvantaged and has a repulsive appearance. Contrary to common expectations, the film follows someone else, highlighting the contradiction between reality and viewers’ perception of it. The strong character stands as a role model for other TB and HIV patients to look up to and for the society to overcome the stigma and fear of these two diseases. The film follows a young girl named Marina, a native of Ekaterinburg. She’s an insightful, intelligent and beautiful person, a creative thinker and spiritual type with her own perception of things. Marina belongs to socially prosperous class, works a permanent job and has 5-year-old daughter. The idea is to show how strong and determined she is as a person. The message we are trying to get across is that anyone can be at risk regardless of sex, nationality, occupation and social status. Living with HIV does not prevent Marina from achieving success in life. She’s a real-life example of building belief in yourself. By showing her emotional state, the film wants to break the stigma and change the public perception of HIV patients.

SYNOPSIS:

After learning about her diagnosis Marina begins to search for answers to her questions. Fearing disclosure and condemnation, she chooses to trust her thoughts to her diary. But nothing stays hidden for long…