Two Similar Strangers is a socially relevant project created for awareness which doubles as a PSA. Writer/producer Alex Moreno has created a program called FLOW, also known as Future Leaders of the World, which promotes and empowers filmmakers to create such awareness type projects. The idea behind it is that filmmakers can craft projects which have important messages on topical issues that educate, inform, and spread awareness which ultimately has the goal of providing insight to solutions to problems and allow people to know the proper channels to turn to. More specifically, with Two Similar Strangers, Alex Moreno has created a short film which creates a true to life scenario to help bring awareness to HIV and STIs in general. Moreno runs a clinic which provides free HIV testing, and he wants this important issue to be seen and for people to know the proper steps to take with regard to prevention, testing, and treatment. Now, let's tackle the specifics of the short film.

Two Similar Strangers aims to face the negative stigma of sex, perhaps more specifically safer sex, and wants to highlight how VD, specifically HIV, can be prevented. Of course, many in high school deal with these negative perceptions of sex, so the short film aims for a more sex positive approach and how context and socialization can bring about negativity, but also how communication can bring clarity. The setup for the story is: Shanice Miller overhears a conversation about how a more popular student is dating her brother Sean. Before that, she was seeing Tyler, supposedly a playboy of sorts, and Shanice reveals that she had been seeing him as well. Since both had been intimate with Tyler, Shanice also reveals that she may have caught HIV from him and she recommends that she get tested to be sure she didn't also catch this from him. Shanice mostly just wants to protect her brother Sean, from possibly catching the same. Once we move from the dramatic portion, we move into more procedural which explains how the testing process works. The film does a great job of showing how easy it can be to contract HIV without even knowing, and also showing that it's a relatively painless process to receive testing and results.

This FLOW campaign is completely centered around new filmmaking voices to amplify important issues and how we can bring about effective and efficient solutions and how we can work towards something positive regarding something that is typically viewed as negative. While this particular film is centered around sexual health, the FLOW program is going to be designed to have filmmakers craft their films, short or otherwise, around a multitude of prominent topics. Alex Moreno founded On The Move Productions which is spearheading this film, and the rest of the projects which are created with the intention to educate. A link to the website for On The Move Productions, which also has the rest of their projects, can be found here.

The main goal of Two Similar Strangers is to promote awareness for this prevalent issue and hopefully to educate those who need help. This short film, while dramatic, is also meant to inform and to educate, which it does effectively. Alex Moreno and his team have accomplished something great here, and it deserves as many eyes on it as it can reach. I would also ask that you share this to promote awareness on this topic so that we can not only treat those who need it, but also in prevention and promote positive sex health practices. This film, in addition to its relatability, it gives professional advice, the steps to take, and how the process of testing works. The film gives all the necessary resources for how we can tackle this issue and have a dialogue about how we can fight it together.