“Unexpected,” a documentary short about Black women living with HIV in the South, will premiere on Hulu on Dec. 1, which is also World AIDS Day.
Produced by “Abbott Elementary” Emmy winner Sheryl Lee Ralph and directed by Zeberiah Newman, “Unexpected” follows activists Ciarra Ci Ci Covin and Masonia Traylor as they create an underground network to help and support women with HIV in the rural South.
The Oscar-qualifying film, which premiered at the 2023 Essence Film Festival, won an Award of Excellence at both The Accolade Global Film Competition and The IMPACT Docs Awards, and was a Silver Winner at the Telly Awards. It has also screened at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, DC Black Film Festival, Black Women Film Network, Detroit Black Film Festival, The Women’s Film Festival and Cleveland Film Festival.
Ralph’s nonprofit, The DIVA Foundation, acquired the film.
At the same time, this year’s “DIVAS Simply Singing! Raising Health Awareness” benefit concert will broadcast on ABC-owned stations on Dec. 1. Powered by Gilead Sciences, the one-hour special includes performances by Ralph, Anthony Hamilton, Dianne Reeves, Amber Riley and Saycon Sengbloh, along with appearances by Cynthia Erivo, Jennifer Hudson, Tatyana Ali, Kalen Allen, William Stanford Davis, Brandee Evans, Sherri Shepherd, Robin Thede and Lisa Ann Walter.
Tina Knowles and U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee were honored during the event, which was filmed before a live audience at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.
“Our relationship with ABC-owned television stations and Hulu is a very important one because of our combined desire to amplify stories around health disparities, especially those affecting women in vulnerable communities,” The DIVA Foundation executive director Norman Lee said Thursday.
World AIDS Day will also see the premiere of Jeffrey Schwartz’s “Commitment to Life,” a feature doc about Hollywood’s early response to the AIDS epidemic and the creation of AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), on Peacock.
On Dec. 2, Plus Life Media will debut “Marty’s Place: Where Hope Lives,” a half-hour special airing on KGO with encores on KGO-TV and ABC’s Localish network.
Narrated by Plus Life and ABC7 LA’s Karl Schmid, the program highlights Marty’s Place, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization providing a safe and supportive home for individuals living with HIV/AIDS. The special features conversations with California State Senator Scott Wiener, Marty’s Place residents Paul Aguilar and Michael Rouppet and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.
