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Mandragora

Presented by URI Feinstein Providence Campus at URI Providence Campus Paff Auditorium

January 29, 2011

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Actor Mirek Caslavka is traveling from Prague, Czech Republic to introduce the award winning film Mandragora to RI. Mandragora, directed by Wiktor Grodecki, is a beautifully uncompromising film. The main character Marek (played by Caslavka) is an innocent boy from a small village, who travels to Prague and becomes involved in prostitution. "It is one of the finest European cinema films one could wish to see, with stylishly slender cinematography." says journalist Richard Harrison. Mandragora perfectly articulates the life of a male prostitute. The film also communicates what services and support are needed in communities to help boys and young men from following in Marek’s path of destruction.

There has been very little data collected nationally on male sex workers. Many young men live homeless on the streets and exchange sex for money, drugs and basic survival needs. They are at an extremely high risk for HIV infection, sexual abuse, overdose and death. Project Weber is dedicated to providing resources and support (including substance abuse treatment linkages and HIV prevention services) to male sex workers living on the streets of Providence, Rhode Island.

At the start of our presentation, a former sex worker and the founder of Project Weber, Rich Holcomb, will present a brief history on male prostitution, and provide data from a recent survey of 50 male sex workers in Providence. We will then hear personal stories of hope and redemption from survivors of the streets James Waterman (also of Providence) and Yannick Potvin of Montreal, Canada. All three men, including Mirek Caslavka were featured in a
2010 documentary film about male prostitution titled Lost Voices: Survivors of the Streets.

"We've got more bases to cover this year in HIV prevention with this new emerging population on the map." says Rich Holcomb. "Until recently, this topic was neglected, ignored and considered too taboo to talk about. Our hope is to educate the community at large, HIV prevention and addiction professionals about this population. There are a unique set of issues that must be addressed so recovery from this traumatic lifestyle is possible and the cycle of addiction can be broken."

After the film presentation, Mirek Caslavka, Rich Holcomb, James Waterman and Yannick Potvin will participate in an open panel discussion with the audience.