I'm only just learning about this South African episodic drama series titled InterSEXions, which comprises of 25 independent but interrelated episodes that follow how the HIV virus affects a chain of people, although it tries not to present itself as an overtly HIV/AIDS drama series.
Sponsored by Johns Hopkins Health and Education in South Africa, the 25 inter-connected but independent stories start and end with Episode 1, essentially bringing the series-arc full-circle.
From a wedding in a well-to-do suburb North of Johannesburg, when the wife, while dressing for her wedding, hears on the radio that a well-known DJ is dying of an AIDS-related illness – a DJ who had been her lover a few years before; to the story of the young bride and the DJ five years before; to the story of the DJ and his other lover; to the story of the DJ's other lover and her lover, and so on.
The episodes are said to be told with a mixture of live-action and animation, as it takes the audience on a journey, exploring the individual relationships, and eventually back to the wedding at the beginning of the series.
It was first broadcast in South Africa on SABC1 in October 2010, and was apparently enough of a hit that a second season is in the works.
As Screen Africa announces today:
Quizzical Pictures will stage auditions for members of the public to win roles in the second series of the multiple award-winning SABC1 drama InterSEXions, which is currently in pre-production. The first round of auditions for Intersexions II takes place in Johannesburg on 4 August, at the Bassline club at 10 Henry Nxumalo Street, in Newtown. People wishing to audition should prepare one of four roles, which can be accessed on www.facebook.com/pages/InterSEXions, and they may audition in any of the country’s official languages. Cast members from Intersexions I, including Thato Molamo and Noxee Maqashalala, will be on hand to give prospective TV stars audition tips, and share what playing in the first series has done for their acting careers.
I found episodes from InterSEXions season 1 on YouTube, and embedded the first part below, for a glimpse at this locally and internationally-acclaim series that won an unprecedented 13 South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) earlier this year, as well as a Peabody Award.
Watch:
