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The International Documentary Series Global Perspective has the theme of

islands this year, and Radio New Zealand's interpretation is based on the

isolation suffered by those living with HIV.

In New Zealand, more than half the people who are HIV positive

know no one else with the virus, so their journey is likely to be solitary.

In today's documentary, Death diminishes me.

You can hear the stories of New Zealand men who've been HIV positive for

more than 20 years, about their infection, their loss, and their hope.

Their reflections are interspersed with extracts from Michael Parmenter's

theatre work, a long undressing.

Music

Why do we hate ourselves so much?

It started out at a rather sick joke after a drunken lunch with some friends

with skyved off work, and we spent about three hours having a very

alcoholic lunch, and about three, four houses of shops away from us

were since Stephen's home road, the big hospital there in London,

and none of us had been to a clan clinic.

So we thought it would be incredibly funny to go and have a look in one,

see what they do, and even more important, see if there was anyone we knew in there.

...