The Long Walk

Ken Ward was the first Native Canadian to go public with his HIV diagnosis. Seven years later, he has developed AIDS and remains a passionate advocate for HIV prevention and treatment. Filmmaker Alan Bibby provides a moving account of the man and his work in The Long Walk. Ward works primarily with First Nations populations, where the epidemic is often coumpounded by isolation and poverty. He also takes his message into prisons, where the infection rate among Native inmates is 17 times the national average. Bibby accompanies Ward as he travels the back roads of the Canadian West, nurturing tolerance and understanding within fearful communities, and bringing hope and guidance to people living with HIV or AIDS.