A Tale of Two Teens documentary
screening set for June 9th

An unusual AIDS documentary, made by two BU professors and meant for teenagers, is the official selection of the upcoming Boston International Film Festival. More young women are dying of AIDS in South Africa than anywhere or anyone else; collaborators and colleagues at BU's College of Communication, Susan Walker and Geoff Poister wanted to know why.

A Tale of Two Teens is about the AIDS pandemic witnessed by an American girl visiting an orphaned South African teenager in the KwaZulu Natal province. This is where half the young adult population is dead or dying of AIDS , the elders are not speaking of the disease but rather, the young people are singing out. A Tale of Two Teens features their brave songs as well as the music of the Dave Matthews Band-a favorite of both the South African and the American teenager.

A Tale of Two Teens is 36 minutes, six segments, a documentary, a music video but finally, teenagers praise this film as “a reality program about an urgent and horrifying reality”. It is hoped that high school students in America and South Africa will both see the documentary and learn from a curriculum guide being developed by doctors and counselors at BU Medical Center's HIV/AIDS Care and Research Center. The documentary is sold through a leading educational distributor, Cinema Guild (www.cinemaguild.com)

A Tale of Two Teens will be screened 2:45 PM, Friday, June 9th at Loew's Boston Common Theater, 175 Tremont St. as part of the Boston International Film Festival. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased on-line at www.bifilmfestival.com . A preview of the film is available at www.ataleoftwoteens.org, a Web site developed by Jon Surmacz on the staff of the College of Communication.