HIV is a reality everywhere, whether you’re born in Ireland, India, Venezuela, or Catalonia, because it doesn’t discriminate by race, sexual orientation, or identity,” Jordi Moya Roset, from Barcelona, told me. Together with Luis Noguera Benitez, from Venezuela, and Prateek Bhardwaj, from northern India, he’s one of the three protagonists of Out of Shadows.

These individuals, shaped by different cultures, geographies, and societal attitudes toward identity, sexuality, and sexual health, chose Ireland as their new home. Through their stories, the film explores both the challenges and triumphs faced by queer immigrants living with HIV.

“When I was diagnosed, I didn’t really have anyone to look up to or have a conversation about that,” Prateek said, recounting his own journey and how important the making of this film has been. “I felt like this was my chance to go out and talk about it openly. That was really the exciting part about it. I’m gonna be the voice to inspire and maybe educate people through this documentary.”

Expressing similar feelings, Luis shared: “I’m just really, really thankful for this opportunity because not a lot of people looking like me have this chance in European countries.”

Out of Shadows offered a unique opportunity to queer migrants living with HIV to reclaim their stories in the fight against stigma. Shot against the scenic backdrops of Wicklow, the Dublin Mountains, and Dublin city, the film uncovers the complex intersections of migration, sexuality, gender, health, and the nostalgia of lands left behind.

More than that, the film pushes boundaries and flips the narratives that too often are associated with stories about HIV. “Many times, there are HIV stories that come with a lot of sadness and stigma attached to it,” director Pradeep Mahadeshwar said. “This project was an opportunity to reframe queer immigrant stories living with HIV.”

Jordi echoed this sentiment, saying: “I think the film’s subtitle says it best: ‘Self-Love Beyond Stigma’. Every HIV experience is different and deeply personal, but this project helps people understand how ours unfolded. It’s also a chance to show that there is joy and beauty in a life with HIV.”

For the director, it was important to centre the voices of the three main actors, bringing important, underrepresented stories to the forefront. “I am not living with HIV, so my role was to listen, collaborate, and shape their experiences through the camera in an honest way,” Pradeep said. “This film is theirs. I am just the creative facilitator.”

“It’s written in our own words, which is really special,” Prateek explained. “Whatever I’m saying is my words and how I wanted to represent my story.”

Expanding on the process of making the film, he said: “When I was writing about my journey from India to Ireland, there were some moments where you go through the past and it’s like a flashback. I’ve struggled, but I’ve overcome this fear and the shame and now I’m doing well and I’m very comfortable with being Positive. I’m at that stage in my life that I don’t think about it anymore. I just have a normal routine and, you know, you live with it. It’s in the background.”

Jordi recalled his own role in the making of the documentary, saying: “It was very interesting for me to do some introspection about my own HIV experience and turn it into a creative expression — especially because I wrote part of it in Catalan, my mother tongue, which also carries its own history of stigma, censorship, and political persecution.”

Diving into cultural traditions from the countries of origins of the three protagonists is an integral part of Out of Shadows. “What we do in the film is a cultural performance called the Dancing Devils,” Luis explained about his own role. “It’s a very religious tradition, Catholic religious tradition, in Venezuela that happens every year around May and June. It’s basically men dressing up as devils to scare bad spirits out of the little towns, out of the country, out of the villages.

“Pradeep came up with an incredible story that related both things. What is an immigrant? What is it for an immigrant living with HIV to move from the country to a different country? He mixed both of the situations. The cultural tradition with what the reality of the film was.”

The storytelling in the film is also innovative, breaking away from industry standards to create something truly unique. “I wanted to break away from making documentaries with people sitting in front of a camera and talking. Instead, I wanted to make them perform in their own space and their own comfort of showing body or telling their childhood stories,” the director explained.

Recalling his experience working with Pradeep and the crew, Luis said: “These people are so… I wouldn’t even say professional. They’re passionate. They love every single story that they have to tell. They know, they carry the responsibility.”

Jordi added, “I appreciated Pradeep’s way of directing, letting things flow naturally, holding a strong creative vision of how he sees us, and centring us with such care and respect for our community.”

Pradeep explained how the project was born out of genuine friendships, a sense of solidarity, and his own broader interest in exploring how migrant voices impact Ireland’s cultural landscape. “It’s part of my overarching visual art project called New Irish Queerness. I’m always very curious about what is the new Irish queerness?” he explained.

The project is about “how people from diverse cultures and backgrounds and societies choose Ireland to be home and how they tell their story, how they retell their own identity and subjective reality. Out of Shadows is one of the core elements of that story.”

The film was supported by the Grand Camp Maisie Fund (UK), in memory of LGBTQ+ activist Andrew Lumsden. “I’m so lucky that I got this funding,” Pradeep shared. “They saw the necessity and beauty in the project and they stood behind me.”

“I’m truly delighted to be part of this project,” Jordi said. “I feel honoured to have a platform that empowers us equally and gives us visibility. It’s also special to share this with two friends from the Tribe.”

Indeed, the three actors in the film are also members of the Poz Vibe Tribe, a social enterprise that has done groundbreaking work in HIV activism in Ireland. “I feel a lot of responsibility, because I’m one of many immigrants in the group, in the Tribe, but I’m one of the most out there and I’m a person of color as well,” Luis shared. Speaking of wanting to empower people by sharing his own journey, he added: “If I look like them or if they look similar to this and they see another person thriving, that’s what it is, basically.”

“All of this is happening thanks to the Tribe as well,” he added. “I really shaped my artistic practice after coming out as a HIV Positive person or immigrant living in Ireland.”

Like other members of the tribe, Prateek has also been vocal about his experience with HIV, empowering people to not let the diagnosis define their whole life. “Sometimes people have a really hard time accepting things and I’ve been through that journey, so I feel like I can really help them to understand that this is not the end,” he said.

The film also comes at a time of troubling global changes around migrant lives and the fight against HIV and AIDS. “I couldn’t ignore the current cuts to UNAIDS funding, which are threatening decades of progress in the HIV response,” Jordi said. “These cuts could result in over three million new infections in the coming years. Ireland is in a stronger position than other countries, but the cuts can still affect drug pricing, research, innovation, and supports that are often essential for people at risk.”

Out of Shadows is also a “creative response to what is happening in Ireland. Now, there is a lot of negativity about people coming to Ireland,” Pradeep explained. “These are amazing migrants and they’re constantly contributing and reshaping Irish society and culture. We need to build up their capacity and a contemporary Ireland where all these realities can live together instead of shouting and fighting with each other.”

“I hope [the film] gets the recognition that it needs to get,” Luis said. “I hope the message goes across properly so people will understand really what being an immigrant and living with HIV in a country that is not yours is.”

Reflecting on the impact of a film like this, Prateek said: “I feel like it’s gonna inspire people. Nobody’s forcing them to come out, but maybe, it’s just gonna reduce the shame. I feel like people might relate to the three of us and understand that they can have an amazing life in Ireland or outside, wherever they are.”