German Filmmaker Carl Gierstorfer visits Washington University in St. Louis on Tuesday, April 21, to screen his documentary The Rise of the Killer Virus and discuss his investigation of the origins of HIV.
With nearly 40 million people who have died and 30 million infected, AIDS is to date the most destructive pandemic in modern history. In an effort to combat the virus, a team of scientists traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo to investigate human specimens containing the virus. They concluded that the first transmission of AIDS—from chimpanzees to humans—was around 1908, decades before the first cases were known. The Rise of the Killer Virus is a detective-like medical mystery documentary following the researchers in their efforts to determine these origins.
The film premiered in the U.S. on the Smithsonian Channel on World AIDS Day 2014. Prior to its U.S. showing, the documentary premiered in Europe as The Bloody Truth. See the Smithsonian Channel trailer here.
To further follow the footsteps of researchers and discover the phases through which the disease has passed during its century-old history, visit the Interactive History on the Origins of HIV, which has been nominated for best science website for the 2015 19th Annual Webby Awards.
The documentary and interactive are associated with Gierstorfer's Pulitzer Center-supported reporting project "HIV's Origins-And the Lessons for Today."
Washington University in St. Louis is one of the Pulitzer Center's Campus Consortium founding partners.
The Rise of the Killer Virus and filmmaker Carl Gierstorfer
Tuesday, April 21
4:00 pm
Washington University in St. Louis
McMillan Building
Room 101
1 Brookings Drive
St. Louis, MO 63130
Writer & Director: Carl Gierstorfer
Director of Photography: Renaat Lambeets
Editor & Art Director: Marcel Ozan Riedel
Executive Producer: Antje Boehmert
The Rise of the Killer Virus is produced by
DOCDAYS Production, YUZU Productions,
CONGOO, for Smithsonian Networks,
ZDF/ARTE, CCTV 10, RTBF, and VRT.