Fig Trees
Encyclopedia
Fig Trees is a 2009 Canadian operatic documentary film written and directed by John Greyson
. It follows South African AIDS
activist Zackie Achmat
and Canadian AIDS activist Tim McCaskell as they fight for access to treatment for HIV/AIDS. It was also inspired by Gertrude Stein
and Virgil Thomson
's opera Four Saints in Three Acts
. The film premiered at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival
where it won the Teddy Award
for Best Documentary.
-positive activist who founded the Treatment Action Campaign
in 1998. The organization focuses on access to drug treatment for HIV/AIDS patients who cannot afford private health care. Achmat refused to take medication himself until the South African government made antiretroviral treatments
available through public sector hospitals. Tim McCaskell is a Canadian activist who founded the AIDS Action Now! organization, and has campaigned for better access to treatment.
Director John Greyson has been involved in AIDS activism since the 1980s. In 2001, he and musician David Wall had the idea to write an opera about Achmat's treatment strike after a piece on him appeared in The New York Times
. The work originally took the form of an eight part video installation. It was inspired by the 1920s opera Four Saints in Three Acts
by Virgil Thomson
and Gertrude Stein
.
, Simon Nkoli
, interspersed with operatic performances. Fictional elements feature Gertrude Stein writing an opera about Achmat and McCaskell. It is narrated by a singing albino
squirrel.
(Berlinale) on February 9, 2009. It had been accepted as a rough cut and finished shortly before the festival. It went on to play at the Inside Out Film and Video Festival
in Toronto, the Seattle International Film Festival
, Outfest
, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, the Paris Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Watch Docs Film Festival in Poland and the Hamburg Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. It won the Teddy Award
for Best Documentary at Berlinale, the Jury Prize at the Hamburg Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and the award for Best Canadian Film or Video at the Inside Out Film and Video Festival.
John Greyson
John Greyson is a Canadian filmmaker, whose work frequently deals with gay themes. Greyson is also a video artist, writer and activist; he is currently a professor at York University, where he teaches film and video theory and film production and editing.-Background:Greyson was born the son of...
. It follows South African AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
activist Zackie Achmat
Zackie Achmat
Zackie Achmat is a South African activist, most widely known as founder and chairman of the Treatment Action Campaign and for his work on the behalf of people living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa.-Early life:...
and Canadian AIDS activist Tim McCaskell as they fight for access to treatment for HIV/AIDS. It was also inspired by Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
and Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music...
's opera Four Saints in Three Acts
Four Saints in Three Acts
Four Saints in Three Acts is an opera by American composer Virgil Thomson with a libretto by Gertrude Stein. Written in 1927-8, it contains about 20 saints, and is in at least four acts...
. The film premiered at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival
59th Berlin International Film Festival
The 59th Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 February to 15 February 2009. The opening film of this year's festival was Tom Tykwer’s The International, screened out of competition...
where it won the Teddy Award
Teddy Award
The Teddy Award is an international film award for films with LGBT topics, presented by an independent jury as an official award of the Berlin International Film Festival . Here, an "independent jury" implies that its members are not officially selected by the committee of the Berlinale...
for Best Documentary.
Background
Zackie Achmat is a South African HIVHIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
-positive activist who founded the Treatment Action Campaign
Treatment Action Campaign
The Treatment Action Campaign is a South African AIDS activist organization which was founded by the HIV-positive activist Zackie Achmat in 1998. TAC is rooted in the experiences, direct action tactics and anti-apartheid background of its founder...
in 1998. The organization focuses on access to drug treatment for HIV/AIDS patients who cannot afford private health care. Achmat refused to take medication himself until the South African government made antiretroviral treatments
Antiretroviral drug
Antiretroviral drugs are medications for the treatment of infection by retroviruses, primarily HIV. When several such drugs, typically three or four, are taken in combination, the approach is known as Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, or HAART...
available through public sector hospitals. Tim McCaskell is a Canadian activist who founded the AIDS Action Now! organization, and has campaigned for better access to treatment.
Director John Greyson has been involved in AIDS activism since the 1980s. In 2001, he and musician David Wall had the idea to write an opera about Achmat's treatment strike after a piece on him appeared in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. The work originally took the form of an eight part video installation. It was inspired by the 1920s opera Four Saints in Three Acts
Four Saints in Three Acts
Four Saints in Three Acts is an opera by American composer Virgil Thomson with a libretto by Gertrude Stein. Written in 1927-8, it contains about 20 saints, and is in at least four acts...
by Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music...
and Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
.
Content
The film features documentary footage and interviews with Achmat and McCaskell, as well as Gugu Dlamini, Stephen LewisStephen Lewis
Stephen Henry Lewis, is a Canadian politician, broadcaster and diplomat. He was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party for most of the 1970s. During many of the those years as leader, his father David Lewis was simultaneously the leader of the Federal New Democratic Party...
, Simon Nkoli
Simon Nkoli
Simon Tseko Nkoli was an anti-apartheid, gay rights and AIDS activist in South Africa.Nkoli was born in Soweto in a seSotho-speaking family. He grew up on a farm in the Free State and his family later moved to Sebokeng...
, interspersed with operatic performances. Fictional elements feature Gertrude Stein writing an opera about Achmat and McCaskell. It is narrated by a singing albino
Albinism
Albinism is a congenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to absence or defect of an enzyme involved in the production of melanin...
squirrel.
Release and reception
Fig Trees premiered at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival59th Berlin International Film Festival
The 59th Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 February to 15 February 2009. The opening film of this year's festival was Tom Tykwer’s The International, screened out of competition...
(Berlinale) on February 9, 2009. It had been accepted as a rough cut and finished shortly before the festival. It went on to play at the Inside Out Film and Video Festival
Inside Out Film and Video Festival
The Inside Out Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival is an annual film festival in Toronto, Ontario, devoted to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender film and video works...
in Toronto, the Seattle International Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...
, Outfest
Outfest
Outfest is an LGBT-oriented film showcase and festival in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1982 as the "Gay and Lesbian Media Festival and Conference", the name was changed to Outfest in 1994.-Programs:...
, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, the Paris Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Watch Docs Film Festival in Poland and the Hamburg Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. It won the Teddy Award
Teddy Award
The Teddy Award is an international film award for films with LGBT topics, presented by an independent jury as an official award of the Berlin International Film Festival . Here, an "independent jury" implies that its members are not officially selected by the committee of the Berlinale...
for Best Documentary at Berlinale, the Jury Prize at the Hamburg Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and the award for Best Canadian Film or Video at the Inside Out Film and Video Festival.