The Burden review – deeply personal portrait of living with Aids in secret

Elvis Sabin Ngaibino’s poignant documentary shows the pressures faced by family members forced to keep their condition hidden in their deeply religious community

Shot in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, Elvis Sabin Ngaibino’s engrossing and poignant documentary is a family affair. The subject is none other than his cousin Rodrigue, who is consumed with a weighty secret: both he and his wife Reine are living with Aids. Within their deeply religious community, the condition is sorely misunderstood; in his fervid sermons, the local pastor associates Aids and HIV with witchcraft, curses, and even God’s punishment. Such superstitious and moralistic sentiments take deep root in the minds of the believers, worsening the social stigma surrounding an ongoing health crisis.

Unable to speak their truth, Rodrigue and Reine are torn between their private troubles and public personas. The sensorial soundmix powerfully conjures the cacophony of voices that envelop their daily existence. Religious preaching, received with thunderous applause merges with the twittering of rumours and gossip, along with various community quarrels. In this town, words are never just words. Rendered tactile through editing, they become the ties that bind Rodrigue and Reine to their secret.