HBO and Comcast to Host the Atlanta Premiere of HBO Films’ ‘LIFE SUPPORT’
ATLANTA, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — HBO and Comcast will host the Atlanta Premiere of HBO Films’ LIFE SUPPORT on Sunday, March 4, 2007 at the Morehouse School of Medicine’s Louis W. Sullivan National Center for Primary Care. The invitation-only event will begin with the film screening at 3:00 p.m. in the auditorium followed by a 5:00 p.m. reception. Community partners for the Atlanta premiere of LIFE SUPPORT are Healthy Black Communities, Inc., Black Women Film Preservation Project and the Woodruff Arts Center’s Celebrate Diversity Through The Arts Initiative.
HBO Films’ LIFE SUPPORT, starring Oscar(R) nominee and platinum-selling recording artist Queen Latifah, is a moving and candid look at the African- American community’s HIV crisis through the eyes of a survivor who is a mother, a former addict and an AIDS activist. Inspired by the life of his sister, Andrea Williams, and their family, director Nelson George (executive producer of HBO’s "Everyday People"), in his directorial debut, co-wrote the screenplay with the writing team of Jim McKay and Hannah Weyer (HBO’s "Angel Rodriguez"). Nelson George and Andrea Williams will attend the Atlanta premiere along with actor Wendell Pierce (HBO’s "The Wire").
Also appearing in LIFE SUPPORT are Anna Deavere Smith ("The West Wing"), Wendell Pierce (HBO’s "The Wire"), Evan Ross (the upcoming "P.D.R."), Rachel Nicks, Darrin Dewitt Henson ("Soul Food"), Gloria Reuben ("ER"), Tony Rock ("All of Us") and Tracee Ellis Ross ("Girlfriends").
Shot at various Brooklyn locations, LIFE SUPPORT uses a mix of actors and real people from the HIV/AIDS community to tell the story of HIV-positive Ana Wallace, who channels her energy and regret over her past drug addiction into working for Life Support, an AIDS outreach group. Wallace’s obsessive passion for her job puts her health at risk, and her stubbornness threatens to drive her already fractured family away. When her mother announces that she’s selling her home and moving South, and plans to take Wallace’s daughter with her, Ana is forced to confront her past mistakes and learns a poignant lesson about loving and letting go.
"The impact of HIV on women in the African-American community is a crisis at the heart of contemporary American life that no one is talking about," notes HBO Films president Colin Callender. "We are proud to be working with Nelson George on his directorial debut on a story that is so personal and so timely."
Executive Producer Shelby Stone points out that "this is not a ‘hood’ movie. It’s a working-class poor movie, and that’s a very important distinction. These are people who are building families and working and having a life, maybe not in the best neighborhoods but with a lot of dignity."
Stone was honored in Atlanta on February 16 by the Black Women Film Preservation Project with the organization’s Trailblazer Award. Stone’s credits include the acclaimed "Lackawanna Blues,""The Middle Passage,""Boycott" and Lumumba," as well as the Emmy(R)-nominated, award-winning HBO public service spots "Peace: Live in It or Rest in It."
"This film’s story is important to men and women from all communities," notes LaMont Evans, CEO of Healthy Black Communities, Inc., the national lead agency for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2007 that took place across the country on Feb. 7. "African Americans make up only 12.3 percent of the U.S. population, yet we continue to account for more than 50 percent of new HIV infections. This remains the highest rate for all racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. All Americans must make the connection that if one of us has HIV, all of our communities are affected. Knowing your HIV status becomes paramount in turning this epidemic around. These are among the most powerful messages in this film."
The December 2006 Kaiser Family Foundation’s HIV/AIDS Policy Fact Sheet estimated that there are 11,471 Black Americans in Georgia living with AIDS, making Georgia third in the nation behind New York and Florida.
Nelson George (director, writer) is the author of numerous nonfiction books, including the recent "Post Soul Nation," and five novels. He co-wrote the films "Strictly Business," starring Halle Berry, and "CB4," with Chris Rock, who also starred. George served as executive producer on HBO Films’ "Everyday People" and as a consulting producer on HBO’s Emmy(R)-winning "The Chris Rock Show." He has directed several short films, including "To Be a Black Man," narrated by Samuel L. Jackson.
Andrea Williams, the inspiration for LIFE SUPPORT, is a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, where the film is set. The mother of three girls, Ebony, Amber and Jade, she has been married to Leslie "Sha" Williams for 18 years. Williams graduated from Sheepshead Bay High School and attended Brooklyn College. Diagnosed with HIV in 1993, she has been a peer counselor for the Brooklyn- based nonprofit organization Life Force since 2000.
Wendell Pierce’s (Slick) film credits include "Ray,""Get on the Bus,""Waiting to Exhale,""Bye Bye Love,""Malcolm X,""Brown Sugar,""The Fighting Temptations" and "A Rage in Harlem." He counts HBO’s "The Wire" and "Strapped," plus "Law & Order,""Judging Amy,""Girlfriends,""Third Watch,""The Gregory Hines Show" and "New York Undercover" among his TV credits.
LIFE SUPPORT is executive produced by Oscar(R)-winning actor Jamie Foxx ("Ray"), Queen Latifah, Shelby Stone (HBO’s "Lackawanna Blues"), Jaime Rucker King ("Ray"), Marcus King ("Jamie Foxx: Unpredictable") and Shakim Compere ("Beauty Shop"); Mark A. Baker (HBO’s "Oz") produces. HBO Films Vice President Sam Martin is the creative executive in charge of production for HBO.
LIFE SUPPORT airs on HBO On-Demand from February 26 through March 5. It debuts Saturday, March 10 (8:00 p.m.) on HBO, with encores on March 11 (4:30 a.m.), 12 (2:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m.), 18 (2:15 p.m., 11:00 p.m.), 22 (1:00 p.m., 8:30 p.m.), 24 (8:30 a.m., 4:00 p.m.), 27 (10:00 a.m., 7:30 p.m.) and 29 (4:30 p.m., 12:30 a.m.).
HBO
CONTACT: Kathleen Neal of HBO, +1-404-471-1827, or cell,+1-404-694-3604