Blood Brother

This real story had me in tears throughout most of it. There could not be a deeper love displayed on any documentary than what one will witness from this one.

Rocky's heart is centered on a most intense, proactive love no matter whether he is playing with his "family," the children with HIV, mending a wound or caring for a child who suffers with the side effects of AIDS development, or when he is among the neighboring people. Love pours from him. I believe he must know the Lord in the way Paul wrote, "in the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death."

If you know not love, then watch this film. It will change your perspective on what it means to love in word and deed, nonstop, without reservation, and with no regrets.

This film should be required viewing by all people of the world.

I was totally blown away. No excessive writeup is needed. It's powerful, authentic and raw. It's the best documentary I've seen because you just feel like you are right there with them. Just see it.

I must write more because IMDb won't accept my review without 10 lines of review, so you can ignore this part if you want. I wont' put any spoilers in either so you can be blown away by this movie like I was.

Films like this go to the theater and are ignored by the ordinary film goers, but they should not be. We should all see movies like this because it brings hope to our spirits. In this hopeless world, I cannot think of a better way to bring hope than to give your life to HIV orphans in a far off place.

Again I urge all of you - just see this movie.

It is excellent film. I believe with all of my heart that it is a must see film. Steve Hoover made this film about his best friend Rocky Braat, because he was impacted and felt this story needed to be told to others. I agree with Steve and I am grateful his was able to tell it. Rocky gave up everything he had here in the states and moved to India, to take care of orphaned children with HIV/Aids. I know Rocky and Steve, they are being totally real. I feel that this is very inspiring and leaves me wondering what could I do to make a difference in someone's life, like Rocky is making. It is about giving unconditional love to others without expecting something in return. It is about the challenges that life can bring and how one might react to those challenges. This story is ongoing and updates are posted to Youtube.

At the our screening of Blood Brother at the Sundance Film Festival, the filmmakers had to ask the audience to stop our standing ovation. As a host for Sundance Film-Forward and the Human Rights Watch Film Festivals, I've seen hundreds of docs, and Blood Brother is far-and-away the best documentary our group had seen in years, and the best film we saw at Sundance this year - period. The film doesn't just have heart, either, but is full of stunningly beautiful cinematography with scenes that make the filmmakers seem impossibly lucky. The film swells with emotive music, inspired events, unscripted words of incredible wisdom, and moments of raw transparency. In the end, it becomes a film that transcends its genre.

At its core, Blood Brother is a universally appealing film, which I believe is one of the reasons it was such a rousing success at Sundance. It is a buddy film, a hero's journey, a drama, a comedy, and a love story all rolled into one epic documentary that reminds the viewer just how beautiful and valuable even the most tragic of lives can be. After the film, Rocky (the subject of the film) and the film crew hung around to answer questions, and it was clear that the film was an honest and genuine glimpse into the lives of extraordinarily compassionate people who truly live up to the radical kindness expressed in the film. It certainly deserves every accolade it has garnered so far.

This is one of the most incredible/emotional films I've ever seen. As the previous reviewer described, it's about an American who gives up everything to go work at an orphanage for children with HIV in Chennai, India. It's hard to comprehend the vast suffering and abandonment that the children face, and the castigation on top of it over the fear (even well intentioned people have) of catching HIV from them. Yet it's ultimately a hopeful film made possible by the love and compassion of Rocky, and his friends who decided to make a documentary about his life/work. This film is so powerful and worth seeing on so many levels. It's certainly about love and compassion in the face of incredible suffering. And the willingness to look it in the eye and embrace it, literally. But it's also about marriage, family, healing, doubts, feeling overwhelmed, sacrifice, joy, beauty and pizza. Yes, pizza. And perhaps, it's also an opportunity to reflect on and re-frame the struggles and challenges we face in our own lives. Many thanks to Rocky and the film-makers for making the journey-- it's a portal into their world, and ultimately our own!