MustSee: The Mess He Made – A film about getting tested for HIV in 2017

#WordlAidsDay2017: A man spends 15 minutes waiting for the results of a Rapid HIV test in a small-town strip mall. Starring actor Max Jenkins. Directed by Matthew Puccini. A Brooklyn-based, Bay Area-raised queer filmmaker. His first film “Solo” was a Wasserman Award Finalist and won the King Award for Screenwriting at NYU’s 2016 First Run Film Festival. He spent last year as producer Scott Rudin’s Executive Assistant and currently works for acclaimed director Cary Fukunaga. He is also a recipient of the 2017 Richie Jackson Artist Fellowship.

“This is a film about getting tested for HIV in 2017 — two decades after President Clinton announced that finding an effective vaccine would be a top national priority. Five years after the FDA approved PrEP for reducing the risk of sexually acquired infection. One year after my first Grindr hookup. This is a film about queer rituals. This is a film about grappling with gay shame. And this is a film about a man who is terrified of winding up alone, but on some level thinks he deserves to be. I feel very lucky (and terrified) to have so many of my own demons on display in this work – it has been more personal, therapeutic and creatively fulfilling than I could have ever imagined. I’ll always be grateful to my remarkable cast and crew, who stomped into Scranton, PA with me the week after the election, when the world suddenly felt so unfamiliar, and carved out a space for this fierce little film.” says Matthew Puccini

www.themesshemade.com