State of Denial takes an unprecedented and unflinching look at how the citizens of South Africa are living with the AIDS epidemic, given the climate of confusion and neglect perpetuated by the current administration. The film offers a moving account of a society struggling to overcome the harsh realities of illness, global healthcare inequities, and government paralysis. Intimate conversations capture the unbreakable spirit of a people determined to conduct their lives with dignity, grace, and humor. To provide context to these personal stories, Epstein also secures candid, in-depth interviews with some of the country's most notable politicians, health care professionals, and activists-some of whom are her former colleagues. With images of pain, outrage, defiance, and hope, the film is an insightful investigation of humanity persevering in the face of unimaginable atrocity. South Africa may feel like a distant land, but these people and their stories possess an uncanny familiarity.