'Steps for the Future'.

'Steps for the Future' is an international collaboration of filmmakers working on an HIV/Aids campaign for Southern Africa. It produces high-quality professional films that reflect life in the time of Aids in the region.

Sister Namibia has now acquired the 35 films comprising the Steps for the Future Film Collection and will be showing these at public venues in the coming months. The films can be borrowed from our resource centre or purchased from Day Zero Film and Video in South Africa, tel: [phone],

email: [e-mail]

The series will be launched in Namibia at the end of July.

Dancing on the Edge by Karen Boswall, 40 minutes, Mozambique

Dancing on the Edge is set in rural Mozambique, depicting how gender roles and poverty influence the fight to contain the spread of Aids. Antonietta, a young HIV positive mother, works as an Aids counselor in town. She decides to take her daughter back to her home village for initiation into sexuality. Antonietta struggles with the contradictions of maintaining traditional customs while adapting to the reality of the modern world.

A Fighting Spirit by Leo Phiri, 28 minutes, Zimbabwe

A national hero turns public enemy when he confesses his tragic secret. Gilbert Josamu, Zimbabwean middle-weight boxing champion, discovered he was HIV positive at the height of his career. Living in a society where HIV/Aids is taboo, Josamu forged his medical certificate and continued to pursue his career. Just months before he died, Josamu finally confessed to having lived with HIV for 14 years. The public outrage that followed forced him into his toughest fight yet - the battle for acceptance. This is a story told by those who are still alive.

A Luta Continua by Jack Lewis, 26 minutes, South Africa

"HIV is not a death sentence!" say the HIV+ group from Khayelitsha. They tell their stories in a series of short films, which are then screened at taxi ranks and shopping malls in Cape Town's township. This powerful film about courage in the face of death includes footage of the group process, the short films themselves and their public screenings.

Although they were too young to have been part of the struggle against apartheid, they face a new struggle. They decide to call the film A Luta Continua - the struggle continues.

Eclipse by Orlando Mesquita, 25 minutes, Mozambique

Eclipse is a dreamlike documentary depicting the total blackout of four girls' lives, eclipsed by the HIV/Aids pandemic. It is a story about four sisters, Lara, Eugenisse, Fatima and Luisa -- the oldest sixteen and the youngest nine. They are Aids orphans living in the Mozambican town of Chimoio. Their mother died of Aids and their father disappeared, probably to commit suicide in a nearby place of spirits. They look after themselves, watched over by the community around them.

Body & Soul by Melody Emmett, 50 minutes, South Africa

HIV/Aids is forcing religious leaders to reassess their traditional attitudes to sexuality in a country where 90% of the population claims one sort of religious affiliation or another. During the struggle against apartheid the churches played a leading role in the fight for freedom. Today millions of people are in a desperate situation because of HIV/Aids. What role do the clergy play in this new struggle for human rights? Body & Soul looks at the attitudes of three main religions in South Africa through people on the ground who have to interpret and practice religion in terms of today's realities.

Simon & I by Beverley Palesa Ditsie and Nicky Newman, 52 minutes, South Africa

Simon and I recounts the story of two giants in the South African gay and lesbian liberation movement, Simon Nkoli and the filmmaker herself, Bev Ditsie. The story is narrated by Bev, both as a personal statement and a political history. Through good times and bad, their relationship is viewed against a backdrop of intense political activism and the HIV/Aids crisis. Their converging and diverging lives are revealed in this heartfelt testament using a mixed format of interviews and archive footage.

Wa N' Wina by Dumisani Phakathi, 52minutes, South Africa

Filmmaker Dumisani Phakathi returns to his old neighborhood. With a camera on his shoulder, he engages with friends to discuss relationships, sex and love. Strong characters like Phumla and Timothy expose their emotions as they talk intimately about the realities of their street and the choices they have been forced to make.

It's a rock and roll journey that reveals the gaps between everyday life and the Aids campaigns that often talk past the very people they are supposed to address. It is the recognition of the people's will to survive in the age of Aids.

Love In A Time Of Sickness by Khalo Matabane, 26 minutes, South Africa

At a dinner party with friends, Khalo Matabane tells the story of meeting a beautiful woman who wouldn't sleep with him. When the woman discloses her HIV status, Khalo does not see her again. The story is intercut with Khalo's examination of his upbringing in a household of women, and questioning of his own sexual history. This film looks at how the already complex nature of relating takes on new meaning in a time of sickness.

It's My Life by Brian Tilley, 74 minutes, South Africa

Zackie Achmat is an Aids activist who refuses to take anti-retrovirals until they are made available in public hospitals and clinics. After defeating the multi-national drug companies, he takes on the South Africa government for its confusing policies around HIV/Aids.

When Zackie gets ill, his provocative position is not one all his friends and colleagues support. Everyone wants to know why he refuses to take the medicines that would let him lead a healthier life. Shot over five months, personal and public images are interwoven to provide an intimate look at an internationally profiled defiance campaign and the complexities of its leading figure.

A Miner's Tale by Nic Hofmeyer and Gabriel Mondlane, 40 minutes, Mozambique/ South Africa

Joachim is a migrant labourer who is torn between his responsibilities for his junior wife in South Africa and his senior wife and family in Mozambique. When visiting his home village after a long absence, he is also tom between his understanding of the responsibilities of his HIV positive status and what traditional society expects of him as a man. He has to make a choice: he cannot please and protect everybody. What will he choose?

Heavy Traffic by Kgomotso Matsunyane, 28 minutes, South Africa

Set in Soweto, Heavy Traffic shows the lives of two very different funeral parlour operators and the people who work for them. We meet Caps Pooney, who has been in the business for 50 years, and Lulu Somthumsi-Mabusela, the boss of one of many smaller operations which have proliferated in the wake of the Aids pandemic. The film follows the real-life characters going about their daily activities on the three busiest days of the week: Thursday to Saturday ...