Dylan Mohan Gray is keen to release 'Fire in the Blood' in India as the country plays a very positive role in his documentary on how Western pharmaceutical companies blocked access to low-cost anti-AIDS drugs in Africa during the '90s.
Shot on four continents and with famous contributors like former US president Bill Clinton, Nobel prize winners Desmond Tutu and Joseph Stiglitz, the documentary tells the remarkable story of how a handful individuals fought to bring affordable AIDS medicines in Africa.
Dylan's debut project was an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival 2013 and received glowing reviews in the Western media.
Narrated by Oscar-winning actor William Hurt, the documentary is finally releasing in India through PVR Director's Rare on October 11 and Dylan is hopeful that the audience here will react positively.
"India is the hero in this story as the country played a very positive role because we still believe in making low-cost medicines accessible to everyone. India continues to supply life saving medicines to different parts of the world. I feel a sense of pride as an Indian to bring this story to the world where we are the heroes," Dylan told PTI in an interview.
Dylan, who trained to be a historian but ended up becoming a filmmaker and collaborated with acclaimed directors like Fatih Akin, Peter Greenaway, Paul Greengrass, Deepa Mehta and Mira Nair, says he first read about the subject while he was working on Mehta's 'Water' as an assistant director.
The historian in him decided to probe further and as he went deeper into his research, Dylan abandoned his plans to make a feature film and started work on 'Fire in the Blood' instead.
"My first exposure to the topic was in 2004. What piqued my interest was that despite being a well read person, I was completely unaware about this issue which seems like a great scandal in the history. Gradually, I met people in my research who helped me understand how big this was," he says.
