November 5, 2007

Ashley Judd Makes Film About AIDS in India

In an interview Sunday, November 4, about her new documentary film on HIV/AIDS in India, India’s Hidden Plague, actress Ashley Judd said that education and prevention are key to fighting the epidemic, and that the cost of educating a person about HIV and protecting them from the virus is just $10 a year (forbes.com/The Associated Press, 11/4).

Judd’s documentary will premiere on the National Geographic Channel on November 30. In the film, Judd meets with Indian HIV/AIDS orphans, including two sisters, ages 9 and 12, who lost their parents to the disease.

"It's very real and it's real stories and real heartache and [it’s] also [a] real opportunity to focus on a solution that is very cost effective and has an extraordinarily meaningful impact in the lives of young people," Judd said.

Judd previously worked on a documentary called Confronting the Pandemic. In that film, she and actress Salma Hayek examined AIDS prevention in Central America.