White Hotel (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
White Hotel is a 1996 documentary by Dianne Griffin and Tobi Solvang that was filmed in Eritrea. The film's focus was the spread of HIV and AIDS in that country, but the filmmakers incorporated their personal struggles and problems into the narrative (Griffin was coming to grips with the death of her father while Solvang had unprotected sex with one of her Eritrean guides, later becoming terrified that she received HIV from that encounter).[1]
White Hotel was not theatrically released until 2001, and it was received with severe reviews in its New York theatrical premiere. Mark Holcomb in the Village Voice condemned as "egregiously self-indulgent" [2] while Elvis Mitchell in the New York Times noted White Hotel "could serve as a textbook example of what to avoid in nonfiction filmmaking." [3] However, Donald J. Levit, writing on ReelTalk Reviews, commented that "Griffin and Solvang deserve high marks for dealing most honestly, and incidentally effectively, with basics of the human condition, in East Africa and in their own hearts." [4] To date, the film has not been released on DVD.
