A Tale of Two Teens? 2005
Distributed by Cinema Guild, 115 West 30th Street, Suite 800, New York, NY 10001; 212-685-6242
Produced by Susan Walker Productions
Directed by Goeffrey Poister
DVD, color, 35 min.
Jr. High - Adult
Adolescence, Health Sciences, Social Sciences, Sociology, Multicultural Studies
Date Entered: 09/12/2006
Reviewed by Katherine Parsons, Information Literacy Outreach Librarian, Bronx Community CollegeThis program takes a look at the adolescent perspective on AIDS and its impact in the United States and South Africa. Margaret Quigley, a teenager from Marblehead, Massachusetts visits Sine Shelembe, a young lady who resides in South Africa. When they first meet, Margaret hands Sine a Dave Matthews compact disc and a compact disc player symbolizing that music is a universal language. Through dialogue, assumptions and misconceptions about each others culture are discovered.
Teenagers in South Africa are not permitted to discuss AIDS, it is taboo, despite the fact that people are dying from AIDS in South Africa and living with AIDS in the U.S. Many have lost parents to the disease, yet children are not told that their parents have contracted, or have died of the virus. In the United States, it is discussed openly in the classroom and at home.
A Tale of Two Teens? is recommended without reservation. Students will become cognizant of the impact of AIDS in South Africa and the contrast of cultures dealing with a health crisis.