As world leaders convened Monday at United Nations headquarters in New York to kick off this year’s general assembly, they were presented with a world premiere of a new short film featuring Prince Harry, Charlize Theron, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Thuso Mbedu.
The high-profile stars appear in the short along with two HIV+ activists, all of whom offered up their time and words to rally support for HIV/AIDS amid global cutbacks with a clear and hopeful message — to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. The two-minute, 34-second clip hails from UNAIDS, the joint United Nations program on HIV/AIDS, which unites 11 UN organizations, including UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank.
It was made possible through the talents of Oscar-nominated writer, producer and Fellow Travelers creator Ron Nyswaner, who produced the short. He helped reel in film collaborators like cinematographer Jonathon Narducci, Otto Senault, Frits De Jong and editor Eric Martin. Johannesburg-based agency Lobengula Advertising also contributed time and resources to make it a reality. Composer Paul Leonard Morgan donated the soundtrack Touch of Sanity to the film.
“The global HIV response has saved millions of lives for over two decades, bringing countries together in international solidarity to end the AIDS crisis,” said Nyswaner, who knows the work well after having written the seminal 1993 film Philadelphia starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. He continued the work with Showtime’s Emmy-nominated limited series Fellow Travelers starring Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey. “We hope the film captures that success while serving as a call to action for continued funding for this essential work.”
The short comes on the heels of cuts made by President Donald Trump’s administration to life-saving programs of the United States Agency for International Development or USAID. A recent study found that the cuts and the decimation of other global programs could result in the loss of 14 million lives. In a statement, Prince Harry called attention to the potential loss of life.
“Right now, babies are being born with HIV due to interruptions in antiretroviral treatment for their mothers. Without urgent action to reverse these crippling funding cuts, six million more people will become infected with HIV while four million will die from AIDS-related causes within the next four years. It is not just the at-risk communities that will be affected,” explained Prince Harry. “We’ve proven that sustained investment saves lives and builds stronger communities. Abandoning this life-saving work now would be a devastating betrayal of progress and the millions who depend on these essential services.”
The Duke of Sussex has championed global AIDS initiatives in places like Botswana and Lesotho, including taking a public HIV test to help break stigma and encourage people to know their status. Theron, Johnson and Mbedu have all been knee-deep in the work as well. Both Theron and Johnson joined the effort on a personal level and through their foundations, the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP) and the Magic Johnson Foundation, respectively.
“The end of AIDS is not a distant dream — it is within our grasp, built on decades of relentless activism, advocacy and shared commitment,” offered Theron. “From groundbreaking treatments to global solidarity, we’ve built a path to epidemic control. And now, as world leaders gather at the United Nations General Assembly, we have the power to finish what we’ve started. The time to end AIDS is now and we must have the courage to see it through.”
Mbedu, who hails from South Africa, has worked with UNAIDS before, like encouraging world leaders to embrace human rights in the global HIV response and working with the Elton John AIDS Foundation. “Ending AIDS requires collective action and support of humanity to ensure that no one who needs the lifesaving antiretroviral treatment in Uganda or Mozambique is left behind,” she said. “World leaders must continue to invest in the global HIV response to save lives.”
The activists featured in the short include Fabian Quezada, a Mexico-born HIV activist and celebrity hairstylist, and Andiswa Cindi, a 22-year-old South African social media influencer who uses TikTok to create awareness about HIV.