Stand Like Still Living (2005) Short Film

Watch the short documentary Stand Like Still Living.

Botswana suffers not only from one of the highest incidences of HIV infection in the world but also from widespread stigma against people living with the disease. Of those who are infected, many live and die with their HIV status kept secret.

In Stand Like Still Living, a man and woman living in a San village in western Botswana buck the silence shrouding AIDS in their community. Over the course of three months, Qomatca keeps a video journal of his feelings as he waits for his HIV test from the district hospital and ultimately confronts his result. Meanwhile, Nankie reflects on her troubled past as a single, HIV-positive woman who must now conquer alcoholism in order to plan for the future of her newborn baby, whose status is still unknown.