Following information published in the press, the National AIDS Council wishes to offer the following clarification :
The National AIDS Council never requested that the broadcast of the film made by the writer Hervé Guibert, “La Pudeur et l’impudeur” (Modesty and Immodesty), scheduled for Sunday January 19, 1992 on the TF1 channel, should be cancelled. The National AIDS Council is not authorized to make any such request and has no wish in any case to censor the media. In a letter dated January 9, 1992 addressed to Mr. Le Lay, Chairman of TF1, the National AIDS Council asked if it was possible for Council members to view the film beforehand, in order to assess its potential psychological impact on those living with HIV. In the absence of a reply from TF1 by January 17, it published a brief press release recommending that the viewers concerned should consider the film as presenting the personal story of the novelist Hervé Guibert, rather than foreshadowing their own fate. In the afternoon of January 17, TF1 initially informed the Council that it would be delaying the broadcast. Following this, the channel went back on this decision. The Council therefore sent a fax to Étienne Mougeotte, the channel’s Chief Executive, reminding him that, while not requesting a cancellation of the broadcast, the National AIDS Council would have wished to view it beforehand. In the end, Mr. Mougeotte decided to delay broadcasting “Pudeur et impudeur“, acceding to the Council’s request by organizing a viewing of the film on Tuesday January 21, prior to the actual broadcast now scheduled for Sunday January 23, 1992.
The National AIDS Council very much welcome the fact that such cooperation is possible with the management of TF1, not on the decision whether to broadcast, which does not fall within the Council’s remit, but regarding joint examination of the most appropriate manner in which to present this personal testimony.
