ABSTRACT
In 1986, I produced my first AIDS documentary in collaboration with the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. After I had completed that documentary, I was inspired by the former president of Karolinska Institutet, Dr. Hans Wigzell, to embark on a fascinating journey as a reporter, documenting the ongoing human story of HIV/AIDS on film. The result of my documentation is the Face of AIDS film archive, owned and curated by Karolinska Institutet’s University Library. When I started to film three decades ago, an HIV diagnosis was equal to a death sentence, which led to a panic in society. The breakthrough of antiretroviral treatment in 1996 changed everything. Panic was replaced by hope. Today more than fifteen million people living with HIV get free antiretroviral treatment. There is now a real possibility to make an end to the HIV epidemic, and I will continue to document the development.
