Bill Duke puts HIV on blast in his new thriller
By Ronda Racha Penrice
Valerie Maas (played by Aunjanue Ellis) is very much living the UPTOWN life in Cover, Bill Duke’s latest film. A photographer by trade, Valeria is married to Dutch (Razaaq Adoti), a respected psychiatrist. Life seems to promise the happy couple nothing but good times when they relocate from Atlanta to Philadelphia to advance Dutch’s career. Instead, Valerie finds herself entangled in a murder case and ensnared in a world of “down-low” sex. Actors, Vivica A. Fox, Leon, Lou Gossett Jr., and Patti LaBelle all check in for the ride. UPTOWN caught up with Cover’s director Bill Duke, the man behind such classics as Deep Cover and Hoodlum, to discuss the controversial film.
Ronda Penrice: Why did you decide to tackle a film that addresses HIV/AIDS?
Bill Duke: I’ve had friends in my life that have died from AIDS in a very cruel and painful way but when Magic Johnson came along, I thought that was all over. I go to one of the gyms where Magic works out and I’ve seen him playing basketball. He looks great; he’s robust. I thought it was dealt with. And then, when I started seeing the stats, they really shocked me, to be honest with you. One out of seven black men in DC are infected with HIV. Of reported AIDS cases, between fifty and seventy-five percent are black women. Then, someone in my extended family came to me and said she was HIV positive. Being a person who has people that I love in my life, and knowing the potential of this threat to them, I had to do something.
Penrice: So, you chose film?
Duke: I’m not an activist or a politician, so I decided I’d try to do something to bring a voice to it. I produced The Face of HIV, which is a documentary that talks about the disease, and Cover, a dramatic film.
Penrice: How do you respond to those who will accuse this film of contributing to the hysteria about down-low brothers being the cause of HIV/AIDS in the black community?
Duke: It’s one of the elements that is a contributing factor to what’s happening but it’s not the only factor and the movie does say that. Greg, one of the film’s openly gay characters, reminds us of that in one of the movie’s scenes.
Available now. Check your local video store and visit coverthemovie.com, for more info.
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