'Doin' My Drugs' Review: Indie documentary highlights HIV awareness campaign through music in Zambia
Zambian musician Thomas Muchimba Buttenschøn was born HIV positive and grew up partly in Denmark where he was taken when he fell seriously ill. Both his parents died when he was very young from HIV and when it first came out in the media that Buttenschøn was HIV positive, he felt flustered, as he speaks about in the latest documentary, 'Doin' My Drugs'. The title is not in reference to drugs in the narcotics sense but comes from a song that Buttenschøn wrote. In the song, Buttenschøn sings, "I'm doin' my drugs because I don't want to hurt you at all."
After becoming deathly ill himself at 13, Buttenschøn begins antiretroviral (ARV) treatment and regains his health. Because he takes his medicines regularly, Buttenschøn is able to live a normal life, with a wife and two kids who are all HIV negative.
Buttenschøn realized that he needed to talk about his journey, and realized that talking about issues was one way to address society's problems in Zambia. In 'Doin' My Drugs', we see Buttenschøn meet up with different activists and musicians who advocate on a variety of issues, including HIV/AIDS, and women's rights. The Zambian government offers ARV treatment for free, but a staggering 13% of Zambians are infected with HIV and remain untreated. Buttenschøn is inspired to use his music and personal story of survival and triumph to confront the stigma and fight the spread of HIV.
Without a doubt, 'Doin' My Drugs' is an inspiring documentary about musicians in Zambia who are launching grassroots movements to address many serious issues their societies face. The film also reminds us that activism starts from the bottom up and dialogue is only one method to propagate it. For instance, Buttenschøn held a concert where in lieu of buying tickets, concert-goers would get tested for HIV. The film focuses on the stigma that surrounds the virus — Buttenschøn's family did not know that his mother died from HIV. Moreover, we see accounts of people talking about how they are afraid to talk about HIV and taking a test.
If there is one part of the documentary that was troubling, it is when it features Pastor Bode Fashinasi. His church is actively involved in HIV activism, but when he speaks about HIV, he uses a disturbing "example". Fashinasi talks about a woman being attractive before marriage and becoming "dirty" after getting married, leading the husband to look for sex elsewhere. He says that a woman should not say no to her husband and thinks that when the husband has an affair and contracts HIV and spreads it, the wife is supposedly the major party to blame. While the next clip is that of the musician B-Flow (also a women's rights activist) singing about "voiceless women," it was unfortunate that the documentary chose not to correct Fashinasi's way of thinking to the viewers or even to Fashinasi himself.
Nevertheless, besides being a window into HIV awareness campaigns through music in Africa, 'Doin' My Drugs' also serves as a great way to get introduced to African musicians. Featuring some great artists like John Chiti, the documentary will have viewers scrambling to find the songs that will keep playing in their heads.
'Doin' My Drugs' will be available on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube Movies, Cable and Satellite On Demand on Tuesday, December 1.
