An Individual Desires Solution1991

A structural cinepoem concerning the mystery of death through the struggle for answers and survival of my boyfriend Kevin, who passed away on my birthday in Sussex, England. Before Kevin died, he asked me to redefine the acronym AIDS as An Individual Desires Solution – hence the title. The titles of text in the first section are transcriptions from the frantic phone calls with Kevin as he describes his life with the disease. The sound in the second section is of Kevin's voice, recorded over long-distance telephone lines then, re-recorded on multiple tracks. This distortion transcends language by focusing on the sound of the struggling voice while also creating rhythmic and atmospheric counterpoint to the images. The second section consists of images of Kevin in his apartment and images taken from a train window. The images function metaphorically for the absolute terror and pain being experienced by both Kevin and myself. All I could do was to hold onto him and the camera; as he suffered far away from me, all I had were the images to edit through the helplessness. "The film is excruciatingly painful to watch because its form forces us to experience the discomfort of not knowing rational solutions to the irrationality of the disease. People who enjoy the sentimental AIDS death narratives of the Teleculture would not enjoy Brose's film. And I think that is exactly why they need to see it." – Jerry Tartaglia, Out Week The film was originally shot in super-8.