Mamba Review

Sunday  Times Review: Redemption Song

Mail&Guardian Profile: Walking to a New Rhythm

It was a wonderful surprise that my written journey, Aidsafari, was the joint winner of the 2006 Alan Paton Award, South Africa’s highest literary honour. I guess it was only a few days after winning the award that I realised what an immense opportunity this offered me with which to leverage international attention towards the Aids crisis in South Africa. The mortality predictions are horrific in this country: If no action is taken, ten percent of the population will be lost to Aids by 2015. Infection rates continue to rise and the Health Department still doggedly refuses to wholly endorse the effectiveness of anti-retroviral treatment.

So what to do? When I found myself on my deathbed, with Aids, cancer, tuberculosis, a CD4 count of two, and weighing 50 kilos, I rose to the occasion and did what I do best: I wrote. Though bedridden with nerve damage, on days when I was strong enough to sit, I crouched at my laptop and wrote this memoir as an act of survival. Aidsafari was a simple chronicle of my daily physical and emotional journey with Aids, my terror of my seemingly imminent mortality and my regrets about my own actions that had brought me to this terrifying place. I spewed this book from the bottom of my gut, somehow finding the humour along with the horror and hope in the journey. Now again, as I find myself recovering, I must again rise to the occasion and do everything I can to help others less fortunate than myself. A new journey has arisen, this time in film.
 


Indeed, life is a strange beast, full of miracles and surprises. It was on the way to a party in Delhi while attending India Fashionweek in April this year that I happened to meet a Sri Lankan, London-based filmmaker, Suran Goonatilake, who was curious about the memoir I had written. Suran has many talents, his IT background and lateral brain has allowed him to explore many things from fashion to “Scenes of A Sexual Nature”, a film he recently produced starring Ewan McGregor and Sophie Okenedo. I gave him the book the following morning and within a week, Suran called from London with a rather exciting proposal. “Let’s make a film,” he said, “Not a film of your book but rather a hard hitting documentary that exposes the deadly truth about Aids in South Africa.”

 

 

Oh how dull, you’re probably thinking – not another boring, Aids education film. And that’s exactly what some of the UK producers thought as we pitched the film to them this August. And so we rethought. There has been a narrative thread of safaris in my work, from my first book, The Wonder Safaris, my journeys of miracles and surprises that took me through twenty African countries, to the Art of African Shopping, my adventures in textiles, fashion, music, sculpture and food on this continent and finally to the most difficult journey, the journey inside, my Aidsafari.

 

 

And so the mischievous seed of another journey was born: An insane road movie that takes around South Africa, from the decimated villages where young orphans run households to the gay club scene where muscle boys still fuck bareback. We meet those who have are dying, urged to swallow herbal ‘miracle cures’ instead of anti retroviral medicine; the unhinged drag queens, educating youth in the country’s squatter camps; the Catholic Bishop who has faced the wrath of the Vatican by advocating the use of condoms; the heroes of the struggle for access to anti retroviral medication.

 

 

On our journey, we interrogate the South African psyche, and ask why -- with its horrific history of Apartheid -- does South Africa -- with its population of 45 million  -- find itself in this state of national emergency, with the highest number of HIV infected people in the world. More than 800 people die of Aids each day in South Africa, and the reasons are not simple: they are buried in the complexities of African traditionalism, myths of invincibility, patriarchy, poverty, emasculation, rage and moral righteousness. To understand Aids in South Africa, we need to unpick its history of secrets and lies. Is this ghastly scenario the result of negligence, stupidity or shudder, is it a conspiracy designed to simply eradicate five million poor, uneducated, unemployed people?

 

 

For me, there is no greater crime than dullness. To make a film, filled with dull speeches from parliamentarians, that perpetuates the stereotype of poor, destitute Africans would be a crime on celluloid. Who wants to go to a film like that? And frankly, who the hell wants to make one? We  don’t. And so by some miracle we have come up with a better solution. While our subtext may be deadly serious, there is no reason why our film should be. As you join us on our journey, you will laugh with tears and cry with laughter.

 

 

Take a pinch of Pricilla, Queen of the Desert, a dash of Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine and the realities of contemporary South Africa, in all its thrilling flux and paradox. You will see its landscapes, its teeming shantytowns, its great expanses of red African earth, its orgies of bling bling consumerism. You will hear the epic song of its people. And you will ask yourself, why has this miracle nation failed to deliver the requisite miracle?

 

 

Aids is South Africa’s new struggle. A white government that murdered its people has been replaced by a black government that is letting its people die. How do we break this tragic cycle? As was the case with Apartheid, it will take international pressure and indignation to coerce the South African government and its people into action..

 

 

There are some who believe this film will ultimately prove the untold story of the great travel writer, Bruce Chatwin, who died of Aids in 1988, without disclosing his HIV status. For me, there could be no greater compliment -- for it was Chatwin, with his brilliant prose and complex character who first set me off on my wanderings. When Chatwin died, Aids was still an unmentionable word, and I do believe, in another time, when if the world was better equipped to come to terms with this virus, Chatwin, with his integrity and wisdom would have told his truth. That time is now, and if I have the opportunity to cast some light on the mystery of one of our great literary heroes, I could think of no greater honour.

 

 

Finally, we are in the process of creating a family -- a motley bunch of producers, researchers, scriptwriters, cameramen and a starry cast who will join us on our Aidsafari – from its research and scripting process through to the actual journey which is scheduled for mid 2007. If you would like to be part of that family, subscribe to the link below and we will update you from time to time on the surreal, moving experiences of our journey. 

I am also working together with SUN INTERNATIONAL on, POSITIVE, a major Aids Fundraiser for September 07 to be held at The Palace of the Lost City. We would like to bring major international fashion designers as well as performing artists and fashion press to the event to help raise the profile of Aids in South Africa. If you would like further information on this event, please contact Lara Portelli at Sun International on lportelli@sunint.co.za or myself on adamo@telkomsa.net. By creating a fantastic event we aim to double the R3 million that the event raised for the Tapologo Aids Hospices in South Africa. So  lets make this a knock-out event and help save lives, educate people and at the very least provide care to those who are dying. ... X Adam   

 

 

SOME REVIEWS

 

“In Aidsafari, Adam Levin’s gift for writing meets his unquenchable talent for living – with joyous results. His memoir of survival is eloquent, exhilarating, heady, heart-aching, wry, funny, poignant and moving. It reminds us that suffering not only humbles, but can teach us to live better and more deeply.”
Justice Edwin Cameron, author of Witness to Aids

“I’d thought at first that this would be a depressing book, but this was furthest from my mind as I read, for the second time, Adam Levin’s memoir of horror, humour and hope.”
Pieter Dirk Uys.

“The judges believed strongly that both Levin and Cameron displayed exceptional integrity and bravery in laying bare the intimate details of their experience, their struggle and the resolution of their personal crises, as public testimony. As such both works were of immense value at a time when the de-stigmatisation of AIDS continues to be one of the most critical defences in the fight against this disease in South Africa and throughout Africa.”
Michele Magwood, Sunday Times Literary Awards / Alan Paton Prize Convenor

“Like its author, Aidsafari is at best, the most engaging sermon and redemption song in secular literature right now. You can choose to listen and be confronted with your own worth(lessness) or opt to shut it out or choke up. I chose none at that point. Opted to go back and to where I could float on my tears in private.”
Bongani Madondo, Sunday Times Lifestyle

“I am a 32 year old woman living with HIV. I decided to buy Aidsafari after reading about it in one of the Sunday papers. I have to be honest -- halfway through the book I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks. I did not want to read any further. This book was depressing me and I was starting to regret buying it. I didn't want to imagine these horrible things happening to me. I only read on because I couldn't believe that somebody would tell such a grim story without some kind of positive or motivating ending. I forced myself to face reality and continue reading.  It was well worth it. I put the book down feeling positive and ready to tackle this disease head on. What amazed me is that Adam's thoughts and feelings seemed to mirror mine. I think hearing it from someone else has been an inspiration to me. I do not know Adam personally but I smile when I think back on the book. He appears to have an amazing spirit with a wicked sense of humour. I wish him all the best on his journey and I hope that one day our paths will meet so I can express my gratitude for the way in which his story has motivated me to pursue my own lasting journey.”

Linda

To Adam from Renate  ( September 2006)

Re your book: AIDS SAFARI

No, I was not interested in reading the book as the “gay world” is a is a world too far removed from my own context of church and orphan care programs. But in the end, I bought the book to add to my collection of South African Aids material.

 I opened the book and started reading during one weekend and it became a spiritual journey for me…..

Your book, Adam, helped me to break through the barrier of prejudice. After  I had journeyed through the book I felt “freed”  from the shackles of conservative bondage and I had a sense of being able to “see with new eyes.”   

You have opened yourself in your writing in total vulnerability as only a person who feels safely embraced by love can do………Love and vulnerability are the two sides of the same coin.  Love and pain are so inextricably interwoven……a constant theme in my life and also the essence of Christian faith. But I don’t want to glorify suffering as so many Christians tend to do.

You write about your personal experience of physical suffering on almost every page  without a  trace of self-pity or whining note nor defiance. You  are reconciled with your pain in a transformative, trnascending mode……….a form of resurrection.

Is it coincidence that you come from the Jewish tradition? I often think that Jewish people understand the Christian Faith better than Christians.  Our Holy Communion service started as a Jewish tradition…….and it has become the deepest symbol of sharing which is exactly what you have done in your book.

I trust that you don’t think I want to convert you to Christianity – but you wanted me to explain why your book was one of the most spiritual books I have ever read.

It was not a doctrine on spirituality – your words were born from your quest for REAL life…….”life to the fullest” (John 10:10)

Another book which became my life companion was written by woman dying of cancer (in German – and she died before publication).  The title: “Life would be a wonderful alternative……”

How wonderful, indeed, Adam that you have been given this alternative and that you let others accompany you on this road………..

Shalom   -         Renate Cochrane Lutheran Minister, Mount Frere, Eastern Cape Province South Africa

“Adam L. I have now read all three of his books, including Aidsafari. For the first time I begin to understand existentialism – wish I had been part of that crazy scene – Tony was, but always hid it from his dragon mother. The Aids book was horrific – what a remarkable man. Would love to meet him one day.”
Heather

“Hi Adam, This is a note to say thank you - for an absolutely mindblowing, extraordinary book. It was one of those 'I thought I knew but I don't' experiences that is the reason why we quest, why we read: never have I been to the place to which your book took me, and you have helped me understand so many things, about stigma and denial, about illness, about the fear of mortality, about the preciousness of life, about the importance -- and inevitable limitations -- of friends and family, about the redemptiveness of art. On the last there are many many moments that stay with me, but none so much as the disco ball encrusted shoe. The whole book feels like that shoe: you have created a transformative and profound work of literature, not so much because it is "honest" or "brave" (I put these words in quotes for fear of fetishizing you in the way you describe in the book itself) but because it approaches some fundamental truth, some clarity, some singular consciousness rendered with self-knowledge and complexity -- not to mention, of course, enviable fluency and style!  Don't stop writing.”
Mark Gevisser, Journalist

“Eish, bra! Your book saved my sister’s life.”
An anonymous, young, black man who approached me on the streets of downtown Johannesburg. 

"Levin is an onion. Layer upon layer canbe peeled back.The more one peels, tyhe more one feels ... 'Adam is the kind of guy who was always squeezing out the very last drop from life,' says [his mentor and previous editor, Marilyn] Hattingh. 'And he stll does'."

Josef Talotta, Grandmaster Slash, Wanted Magazine, Septmeber 2006