James Pastouna

Initially it spread rampantly in the US and became the number one killer of young men. Identified as the “Gay disease” the US government initially did little to fight this epidemic because the virus mostly killed gays, intravenous drug users and immigrants. Many lives, millions could have been saved. In a short time, the virus became a worldwide pandemic. People were terrified, there was no cure.

I’d been doing news item stories covering stories mainly in South and Central America and read in the Times about children in Romania infected with the virus and an evangelical group of Welsh Christians who were providing assistance for the little ones. I made contact with them and we flew together to Romania. A few of them had just found God, born again. Which is a pity. When we arrived at the airport in Constanta a city on the black sea, I noticed one of the evangelists unpacking what looked like a wooden box. Then the evangelist  approached the custom official took out a children’s coffin and shouted “This is what you do to your children.” Not cool, not a good idea, I’m travelling with a BBC cameraman (Martin) and a sound man/ assistant from Germany (Thomas) and definitely don’t want trouble. Next they got it in their heads that my sound man is a so called ‘shirt puller’ and they made jokes about him. Have no idea why they made this sniggering comment, till it dawned on me. Thomas and I became good mates in a rather strange way. A few months previously, I’d nicked his girlfriend.

We distanced ourselves from these god fearing people. In the hospital I met Dr. Matusha who was running the children’s ward at Constanta hospital. I soon found myself in a room full of happy children, playing, smiling and doing what kids do. All aged between approximately three to nine. We did our piece over 2 days, a small report (about 5 minutes) and off we went. On the train journey to Bucharest in my train compartment I happened to meet a Romanian journo called Christi Lazar who worked for the local radio station at Constanta.

Those children were in my head and still are today. They did not know what was probably going to happen. We the grown-ups knew. How can you tell a child they’re probably going to die in a horrible way? I decided by hook or by crook that I’m going to make a film about children. My film would be different. News journalism often looks for the most emotional aspects of a story, like desperate mothers, lack of medicine, naughty non caring Romanian health workers, crying mothers, sick children, anguish and so on. It’s tempting to do a story like that. My story would be what I saw. Happy children and loving health workers doing all they could with very, very little. The children certainly did not want pity.

Now in those days to get a commission for a film was extremely unlikely. I’m a foreigner in Germany with experience doing news stories for a governmental TV network. (German equivalent of the BBC World service). However, a public German TV network financing an unknown to make such a story was unlikely to say the least. Very. And anyway the story, no ‘gloom and doom’, happy children?

I’m going to make this film whatever. I have a TV betacam camera bought when I was doing the numerous South and central American stories and that was about it. Did not have enough money for a decent tripod. I had a wooden Miller tripod bought from a guy in Peru with ‘gambling’ debts for about $50, that did not work in cold weather! The grease on the head froze. Had decent sound equipment though.

I managed to contact Christi, the guy on the train. Does he know a cameraman? Yes, very good. So I’m in Bucharest at the railway station and a whole family met me at the station. I pass the Miller through the window and there is a look of puzzlement. Extreme puzzlement. Wooden tripod? “You stay, you stay”, so I’m staying with him and his family and no English is spoken.

It was the start of a ‘love affair’ I mean that platonically that I’ll get to it in a minute…hang on reader!

After years of Ceausescu Romanians were not very affluent. A bit of an understatement. I went with Constantin to TV Neptune run by a guy who would later become Mayor of Constanta and do a long stretch in the slammer. Constantin was head cameraman and was like all the people there paid peanuts and irregularly, if at all.

I felt pretty bad as I had very little money and could only cover basic costs and Constantin and his mate Christi (different to the train one) did the story almost like on spec.