Asmaa: A beautiful story of love at the time of AIDS

At last I watched Asmaa. I heard about the film last time I was in Egypt but unfortunately I missed it when it was screened there.

Based on a true story, the film shows the life of an Egyptian woman living with HIV. Asmaa was managing to live with HIV, but she needed an ordinary operation. Being an honest woman, she told the surgeon that she is HIV +Ve. That was enough to get her thrown out of the hospital. No other surgeons would accept to perform the operation.

While in despair, a popular TV programme contacted her, via HIV support group, and offered to help her if she appeared on TV. Asmaa refuses to say how she got infected so that she does not implicate others.

The story portrays the stigma, discrimination and ignorance of Egyptian society especially the medical profession. It is depressing that at the time the world is talking about ending AIDS, ignorance, silence and prejudice in North Africa is similar to the situation in other countries but during the eighties.

Discrimination against HIV +ve people actually uncovers even deeper layers of prejudices in Arab societies.  For example, one of the common ideas among the public there is that “the number of HIV + ve people is so small”. Yet those who hold this view do not seem to see that people have tights (e.g. to respect and treatment) whether belonged to a small of big sector in society. The obsession with knowing how people got infected reflects Arab societies preoccupation with how others practice a “strict moral code” connected only with sex and sexuality especially concerning women.

The film managed to escape directly “educating” society about stigma. Through a simple love story with beautiful traditional village scene, it makes the audience question their own prejudices and unfairness.