Check out our exclusive interview with Lance Bangs, who directed the film ‘The Lazarus Effect,’ read our recent review here. The movie, presented by (RED), Anonymous Content and HBO Documentary Films, is part of a campaign to raise awareness about AIDS programs in Africa. ‘The Lazarus Effect’ follows the lives of four people in Zambia who have AIDS, and the effects on their lives when treatment is available to them. It’s set to premiere on Monday, May 24 at 9pm on HBO.
Shockya (SY): ‘The Lazarus Effect’ is part of a multi-media campaign by (RED) to raise awareness about the need for AIDS programs and antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in Sub-Saharan Africa. Why did you feel compelled to tell this story and raise awareness?
Lance Bangs (LB): On a personal level, I have friends and teachers over the years who have past away from AIDS and AIDS-related illnesses. In more recent years, it felt less like a crisis. In the west, there has been access to more medications that have allowed people who are positive to stay alive. There was a magazine article that (RED) published in Vanity Fair magazine a couple of years ago, which was also called ‘The Lazarus Effect.’ It was an article about the conditions in Africa, where people didn’t have access to that medication. They were dying in huge numbers, but once you got that access to people, but within 40 days or a few months, they would resume their health and their lives again. So it was important to me personally to make a film that dealt with this topic, it felt like a very urgent thing to get over there and help people going into the clinics and getting treatment.
SY: Did you approach HBO with the idea (for the documentary), or did they ask you to direct it?
LB: I would say the energy for the film really came from the people at (RED), the organization itself. They knew the story and had the title, and they wanted to make a film about it. They went to Spike Jones. Spike and I are filmmakers. Spike is an amazing guy, and he was an executive producer of the film. We were already making the film. We were filming in Zambia, filming things, and that’s when the people at (RED) were like, “Wow, we got to figure out how we are going to show this, or how we are going to get this to an audience.” At that point, they shared some of the footage to HBO and (senior producer) Nancy Abraham and (executive producer) Sheila Nevins, and got HBO to get behind the film, and help do all the editing and get it finished. It’ll be on HBO here in the United States. It’s also going to be on Channel 4 in the UK. I believe they’re also going to make it available on YouTube for people to see it, because they really do want to get as much of an audience as they can possibly get.
SY: ‘The Lazarus Effect’ is presented in part by (RED), an organization whose primary objective is to raise awareness and funds for the Global Fund. Why is it so important for such organizations to exist?
LB: Well, they just kind of came up with their own new business model on how to get funding to people. They came up with an innovative way to get people to buy a T-shirt or a pair of shoes or a baby stroller or an I-Pod. If you choose one that’s branded through (RED), they take their profits and give them directly to the Global Fund. They get the money directly to the people at the clinics and treatment centers across Africa. It’s a smart, innovative way to get people to give to their charity. They don’t use guilt, or make people feel like it’s their obligation to donate. It’s something that maybe you’re going to do anyway. If you’re buying a gift for your mother for Mother’s Day, or buying new shoes because your old ones were worn out. Through your choices as a consumer, you’re benefiting this great organization.
SY: What was it like traveling through Africa and interviewing people for the documentary?
LB: It was a really amazing, really intense life experience. I’m really grateful that I had this opportunity and I took it. Just spending time over there and meeting people and getting to know them and what it’s like to live a completely different lifestyle from what I’ve grown up in. Making friends and getting to know people and their lives and spending time in their homes and see their families and what it’s like for them day-to-day is such a great experience. The thing that I’ve learned and the footage that I’ve gathered there I’ll take with me for the rest of my life.
SY: How did it feel to see them doing better after taking the ARV drugs?
LB: It was such an amazingly rewarding experience emotionally. To see people that you’re worried about, having seen them from when you first met them. To see them when they were suffering and in pain. Their legs might be swollen up. The girls in the hospital beds, they were very thin and gone, and having a hard time speaking. To go back and visit them, three months later. I went back in August and September, they were revitalized and up on the roof, working to fix things. They were hanging out, being social again with their friends. Even their personalities would be different.
SY: What do you hope people will learn from watching ‘The Lazarus Effect?’
LB: I think you can get discouraged over time. There might be situations where you donated or you may be involved in. They might not have made as much of a difference as you hoped. The Global Fund set this up to work with these AIDS organizations across the different countries across Africa. They’re really accountable to distribute it. To see the effects on people physically, to see that they were dying, to watch them get healthy again and have access to these locations. To see them over a span of 40 days or a few months to get their health back and their lives, it’s great.
SY: Would you like to go back to Africa in the future and do a follow-up documentary?
LB: Yes, absolutely. We were in Zambia, and I was curious to see other countries and the rest of Africa. I would like to meet more people and see how the conditions are on a larger scale. I definitely look forward to going back and exploring more.
Written by: Karen Benardello
