SIX ORIGINAL SHORT FILMS TO BE HOSTED BY ALEC BALDWIN & AIRING OF "LONGTIME COMPANION"

 

New York, NY, November 25, 2003 -- In observance of World AIDS Day on December 1, SHOWTIME presents programming featuring AIDS-related topics. 

 

Beginning at 10:00 PM (ET/PT), the network will air a series of six short films from young filmmakers from the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.  These short films will be hosted by actor Alec Baldwin (Ghosts of Mississippi, Path To War, Hunt For Red October), who is an alumnus of NYU.  Immediately following at 11:30 PM (ET/PT), the network will showcase the Oscar® nominated film "Longtime Companion."  This film, which debuted in 1990, was one of the seminal films about the AIDS virus. 

 

The six short films, each between three and 15 minutes, will air under the banner "NYU Filmmakers - KNOW HIV/AIDS."  The films, which were created by students of the graduate division of the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television, explore AIDS-related themes.  The students each received production assistance and funding to help cover production expenses.  Additionally, they were supervised through pre-production, production and post-production by Kanbar Institute faculty members with Showtime Networks' feedback as needed.  The filmmakers and their films are:

 

" Nicholas Harder and Tom Folsom - "Road to Gulu": Two young filmmakers look at the AIDS crisis in Uganda.

 

" Alison Marek - "The Playground": An 8-year-old AIDS-infected girl moves into a new neighborhood and the community reacts - told from the child's point of view. 

 

" Charles Wachter - "Dreams & Giants" : An animated fable about a kingdom that suffers from an incurable blight and a king who does not want to share the cure with his subjects.

 

" Adam Feinstein - "Say You Love Me" :  A documentary following the days leading up to the wedding between an HIV positive older woman and a younger man.

 

" Godofredo Astudillo - "Brighter Days" : A young GI tries to rescue his teenage brother from a life on the street.

 

" Andrea Williams - "A Spoonful of Sugar" : A young girl with AIDS begins to experiment with sex.

 

"Longtime Companion," directed by Norman René and written by Craig Lucas, is set in New York during the '80s -- when the AIDS virus first exploded upon the gay community.  The film chronicles the lives of a close circle of friends including seven gay men and a woman over a ten-year period of time.  We watch as their lives are forever changed by the devastation of the disease.  The film stars Campbell Scott, Patrick Cassidy, John Dossett, Stephen Caffrey, Mark Lamos, Dermot Mulroney, Bruce Davison (who received an Oscar®  nomination for his role) and Mary-Louise Parker

 

These programs air as part of Showtime Networks' ongoing commitment to participate in the Viacom and Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation's multi-year HIV/AIDS initiative, entitled KNOW HIV/AIDS, which disseminates awareness and prevention messages through PSAs, broadcast and cable television programming, and free print and online resources. 

 

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