Educational Media Reviews Online

During the communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu Romanians were forbidden any type of contraception in an effort to increase the population. Families who were in poverty and could not afford to care for their children were encouraged by the government to send their infants to orphanages and hospitals run by the state. These institutions failed to meet the most basic needs of the children and many were malnourished and severely anemic. Doctors treated the infants with a series of micro infusions of blood that had not been screened using the same syringe for all of the children. This practice created the first wave of HIV infected children in Romania. The second wave came later and was caused by unsterile practices in the hospitals when babies were delivered. Doctors and nurses were under an order of silence about the disease so many children died without adequate care and medication. After the fall of Ceausescu conditions slowly began to change and after the introduction of antiretroviral medications the epidemic finally came to an end. However there were still thousands of survivors, then in their teens, living in group homes or with their families living with the fear and prejudice of a society that does not understand HIV/AIDS.

This documentary was filmed on location in Constanta and Bucharest, Romania over the course of two years and chronicles the HIV outbreak and the ultimate success of the young people who began their life under such hardship. It is a history told through interviews with the HIV infected children, Dr. Rodica Matusa, who devoted her life to caring for the children in her district, and the nurses who courageously cared for the children when others were afraid to even touch a baby with HIV. Other interviews with journalists, counselors, and advocates describe the political conditions that allowed the HIV epidemic to persist. The documentary is a candid look at this time in Romanian history and a frank commentary on the people it affected.

Creator and Executive Producer, Kathleen Treat is the founder and president of the Speranza Foundation, that provides “funding and support in the areas of global development, media for impact and art for enrichment”. She was contacted by World Vision with a request for her foundation to help support a Kid’s Club for youth infected with HIV/AIDs. After traveling to Romania in 1996 with World Vision to visit she was compelled to produce her first documentary. The quality of the work overall reflects the experience and skill of the people she recruited to produce the documentary. After the Fall is the winner of the 2014 Social Impact Media Awards for best editing, and Second Place the 2013, the Underexposed Film Festival YC in the In the Limelight category.

High school and academic libraries as public libraries would find this to be a valuable addition to their collection, especially at the low cost for the DVD at $9.99. Educators are offered free copies that include a curriculum guide for discussion. There are also links for free streaming on the official website.