How to Tell a Secret

Confronting the stigma of living with HIV in Ireland, Shaun Dunne and Anna Rodgers’s film explores the experiences of a generation who are fighting back.

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  • Director-Screenwriters

    Anna Rodgers, Shaun Dunne

  • Producer

    Zlata Filipovic

  • With

    Robbie Lawlor, Enda McGrattan, Michael Clancy

  • Ireland 2022. 99min

  • Language

    English

  • Production Company Invisible Thread

Profoundly moving and inspiring, How to Tell a Secret is cleverly constructed around Dunne’s stage play, Rapids. Actors speak the words of people who can’t acknowledge their HIV status in public, contrasting with activists – young and old – determined to break down the need for the secrecy around HIV. The lack of education around the topic, the terror of first diagnosis and the search for community support, are themes explored by this cast of performers, friends, ex-lovers and healthcare professionals. The world needs to understand the message that HIV is easier to live with than diabetes, and drug therapy renders the virus impossible to transmit. Courage, friendship and a passionate engagement with history are all on display in this moving and compelling film.

Brian Robinson

Content warning
Contains archival footage which some viewers may find offensive.

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