The Origins of AIDS (2004)

Documentary about the hypothesis that HIV may have been caused by mass vaccination against Polio, in Congo, between 1957 and 1960.

Directors:

Peter Chappell, Catherine Peix Eyrolle (as Catherine Peix)

Writers:

Peter Chappell, Stéphane Horel

Stars:

Cecil Fox, Simon Wain-Hobson, Joseph Vandepitte

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cecil Fox	...	Himself (as Dr. Cecil Fox)
Simon Wain-Hobson	...	Himself (as Dr. Simon Wain-Hobson)
Joseph Vandepitte	...	Himself (as Dr. Joseph Vandepitte)
Tom Curtis	...	Himself - Rolling Stone journalist
John Martin	...	Himself - former FDA scientist
Edward Hooper	...	Himself - Author
Bill Hamilton	...	Himself - Biologist
Stanley Plotkin	...	Himself (as Dr. Stanley Plotkin)
Robin Weiss	...	Himself (as Dr. Robin Weiss)
Joseph Limbaya Mwenge	...	Himself - Camp Lindi
Baelo Alukelo	...	Himself - Camp Lindi (as Christophe Bayello)
Philippe Elebe	...	Himself - former assistant
Pierre Doupagne	...	Himself
Jacques Kanyama	...	Himself - former assistant
Amelie Ndababaye	...	Herself - Gihanga villager

Storyline

From the hyphotesis of British journalist Edward Hoope, the film reopens the explosively controversial subject of the origins of AIDS, zeroing in specifically on his fiercely contested proposition that the HIV virus was first transmitted to children in the Belgian Congo via contaminated polio vaccine.

---

Plot Keywords:

vaccine | acronym in title | science | controversy | colonialism | 

---

Genres:

Documentary

---

Details

Country:

Canada Belgium France Spain UK

Language:

English French

Release Date:

2 May 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Ursprung von AIDS

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Channel 4 Television Corporation, Frame 2

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Color:

Black and White Color

User Reviews

Interesting

Origins of AIDS, The (2003)

*** (out of 4)

Thought provoking documentary that tries to link monkey's used to fight polio in Africa with the outbreak of AIDS. I remember when the original article in Rolling Stone brought this subject up and I also remember a lot of scientists blowing the theory out of the water but this documentary does a great job at showing how some might believe that the disease got started as a cure against polio. I read somewhere that this theory has been proved wrong since this documentary was released but I'm not certain on that. As for this film, there's a lot of deep and rich detail given on the history of the disease and what was going on in Africa during the time of the polio outbreak. I'm not sure where the truth lies but this is a fascinating documentary either way.