There is a scene in Chagas: A Hidden Affliction in which pedestrians on Charlottesville's Downtown Mall are asked if they have ever heard of Chagas. Nobody knew.
Unfortunately, that response is common in the United States and Europe despite the fact that victims of the disease reside here and across the Atlantic. Most people know nothing about the parasitic disease that currently affects more than 18 million humans worldwide.
Chagas is mainly spread by the Triatomine bug through contact with its feces, but can also be passed through pregnancy or birth from mother to child, as well as through blood transfusion. There are few visible symptoms, and, for many childhood victims, symptoms do not appear until 10 to 20 years after infection, at which point treatment is too late. Symptoms generally are limited to a swollen eye and later chest pains that induce fainting. Fifty-thousand people a year die from this disease.
This is what the documentary Chagas: A Hidden Affliction shows its audience. While doing research for a fictional film about a doctor who studies the disease, the writer, producer and director of Chagas, Ricardo Preve, decided to shoot the documentary.
"The more I researched the illness, the more it struck me about how little is known and said -- no research, no funding, no education. That really made me mad," Preve said.
Chagas is rampant in poor rural areas in Latin America in which the bugs are now domesticated because of the destruction of their natural habitat. However, there are cases here even in Charlottesville and in Europe, but most doctors know little about the subject.
During one pivotal scene in the movie, Preve donates blood and asks about Chagas because it can be passed through blood transfusion. The nurse replies that Chagas is a parasitic disease that originated in the Middle East, proving how little is known about Chagas -- it actually originated in Latin America.
Chagas: A Hidden Affliction -- and Preve's -- goal is to educate audiences about the disease and its global spread because of "public ignorance and government indifference."
There were once two drug treatments for Chagas, but one of the drug companies felt it was not worthwhile to continue to produce its product because most patients with Chagas are poor. No new vaccine has been developed since 1970 despite the seriousness of the illness.
Currently, doctors must catch the disease in its earliest stages for treatment to be successful. There is no cure for the disease and very little research is being conducted to find one.
Preve noted his film fits the festival's theme: injustice.
"I believe that health care is a basic human right, and today Latino immigrants in the U.S. and Europe do not have access to testing or -- in the cases where it may be used -- medicines to treat this disease," he said. "In essence, our society is ignoring [Latino immigrants] and is only interested in exploiting them for their labor, without wanting to provide them with decent health care, or even make the effort to learn about illnesses that are perceived not to affect non-immigrants."
Preve will be present for a discussion following tonight's screening.
His next projects include, Chagas - A Love Story (tentative title), which led to the research that spawned this documentary, in 2007. He plans to shoot two short films in 2006.
"The Night Before is a fictional conversation between Thomas Jefferson and one of his granddaughters the night before he dies, July 3, 1826 and it is set at Monticello," he said. "A parallel work, La Noche Antes, is a fictional conversation between Argentine independence leader Martin Guemes and his sister Macacha Guemes the night before he dies in June 1821, in northwestern Argentina."
Preve's said he enjoys the positive feedback his films receive.
"In the case of this film was when patients come up to me after a screening and thank me for making it, and giving them a voice, and when doctors tell me that after seeing the film they are reconsidering their cases of Latino patients with cardiac arrhythmias and starting to think about whether they may not be Chagas cases," he said.
Preve explained that no U.S. organizations even list Chagas as their primary area of interest.
The documentary captures an amazing view of Chagas' wide reach across the world, its effects and the government's lack of action. The film gives faces to an overlooked ailment, especially in the case of Lorenzo Colocho, a participant, who unfortunately passed away due to Chagas during filming.
Chagas: A Hidden Affliction is an invaluable way to educate yourself about a dangerous disease that is, for the most part, ignored, and the true meaning of the festival's theme: injustice.
See Chagas: A Hidden Affliction tonight at 7 p.m. at the Regal Downtown Cinema.
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