3 Needles

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3 Needles
Promotional film poster
Directed by	Thom Fitzgerald
Written by	Thom Fitzgerald
Produced by	Thom Fitzgerald Bryan Hofbauer
Starring	Shawn Ashmore Stockard Channing Tanabadee Chokpikultong Isabelle Cyr Olympia Dukakis Sook-Yin Lee Lucy Liu Sandra Oh Ian Roberts Chloë Sevigny Sandra Oh Anele Solwandle
Cinematography	Thomas M. Harting
Edited by	Susan Shanks
Music by	Christophe Beck Trevor Morris
Production companies	Bigfoot Entertainment Emotion Pictures
Release date	September 9, 2005 (2005-09-09) (Toronto International Film Festival)
Running time	127 minutes
Country	Canada
Languages	Afrikaans Mandarin Xhosa French English
Box office	$12,327[1]

3 Needles is a 2005 Canadian

.

The film was screened at various

limited release

in the United States on December 1, 2006.

Plot

A group of young men in South Africa, undergo a rite of passage symbolizing their change from boyhood into manhood.

In rural

, including Tong Sam's family. The military men led by Xuan arrive in the village to help with the disease, and they help Tong Sam grow rice, which he then gives out to his remaining neighbors. Government officials arrive in the town to test people for AIDS, but the testing is $10 per person, which one neighbor thinks is a scam because it "cost $5 when she gave me the virus."

In

company. She uses the money to provide a better life for her and Denys. One night they go out for dinner, and they are waited on by Maria, a former colleague of Denys. She informs him that she, and several other porn actors, are now infected with HIV because of Denys. She says "you killed me for $800".

In South Africa, where three nuns Clara, Mary, and Hilde arrive at a plantation where they are to give aid. Clara who is very head-strong goes to great lengths to look after the family of a young rape victim, whose grandmother has died, and who is cared for by her older brother. She asks for help from the plantation owner Hallyday, who makes sexual advances on her. Eventually she gives in and allows Hallyday to have sex with her, if he agrees to help the family she looks after. She eventually discovers that the older brother in the family is re-using the plantation's needles, effectively spreading infections amongst the people who live and work there. Following this, three men break into the nuns' bedroom and rape them. The nuns leave the plantation soon after, but as the car pulls away, Clara gets out and walks back to the plantation, removing her habit as she goes.

The epilogue is narrated by Hilde, who is revealed to be a Saint and has heard the prayers of everyone from the three stories detailed above. She wonders why the human race will not unite in the face of their common enemy, AIDS, and decides that God, or at least the way people believe in him, is to blame for this failure.

Cast

Release

3 Needles debuted at the

). Leading up to its U.S. premier, it was heavily promoted by the United Nations Global Media AIDS Initiative.

Critical reception

The film won prizes for cinematography and direction at the Atlantic Film Festival. Fitzgerald was nominated for a Canadian Director's Guild Award for Best Direction of a Feature Film; additionally, Variety praised its "exceptional performances".

See also

• HIV in Yunnan
• HIV/AIDS in the People's Republic of China
• Gao Yaojie

References

External links

• 3 Needles at
  IMDb
• 3 Needles at Rotten Tomatoes