Short film “Mi Media Naranja,” which directly translates to “My Half Orange,” was shown Wednesday in the Indiana Memorial Union as part of IU’s World AIDS Day 2025: A Week of Awareness.
The screening of the short, which was made by IU alumna, was part of a collaboration by the LGBTQ+ Culture Center and other IU departments and student organizations.
“Mi Media Naranja” begins with IU alumnus Alejandro Rodriguez’s character inside his New York City apartment in the 1980s. His friend comes in to visit, and the two characters share a tender moment remembering their friends who they had lost to AIDS. After the somber exchange, one of the characters puts glitter on Rodriguez’s face and then the duo goes out to the nightclub. The credits roll as the two men dance. The film was about seven and a half minutes long.
Filmmaker Isaac Martinez, also an IU alum, said the title symbolizes the act of peeling an orange and sharing it with someone. He described it as an intimate act which he tried to convey through the orange lighting in the dancescene.
“I just personally love that phrase of 'my half orange,’ to go through the struggle of opening that orange, sharing that love, sharing that orange,” Martinez said.
The short film began production in 2023 as part of a final project for a class Martinez was taking at IU called Production as Criticism.
While taking this film class two years ago, Martinez watched numerous films about the AIDS epidemic and other social issues. One film that stuck out to Martinez was “Blue,” an experimental film by Derek Jarman, which featured narration over an unchanging blue screen throughout the entire film.
After watching “Blue,” Martinez began working on the script and casting, hoping to portray a different viewpoint than most other films about HIV. Instead of a tragic story, Martinez sought to portray a celebration of life that showed audiences that life continues.
“It's just paying homage to those who have passed away, and sort of seeing it as a celebration of life,” Martinez said. “Instead of just this, I guess, negative output, I wanted it to be refreshing.”
When Rodriguez saw the casting flyer on a bulletin board, he decided to check out the production and reached out to Martinez. Rodriguez graduated from IU and is now an advocate for those with HIV, speaking out about the subject since his time as an IU student.
“I was diagnosed with HIV in late August of 2020, and I was 22 years old at the time, and so I thought, ‘why not?’” Rodriguez said.
After his diagnosis in 2020, Rodriguez began seeing the misinformation and lack of understanding about HIV within not only the LGBTQ+ community, but also among his family and friends.
He joined organizations that connected him with other young people who had HIV, like the Advocates for Youth's Engaging Communities around HIV Organizing (ECHO), which trains youth diagnosed with HIV to become leaders and advocates. He also joined Lambda Sigma Fraternity, whose philanthropy is focused around HIV and AIDS awareness.
Rodriguez said these experiences empowered him to continue speaking out and raising awareness.
While Rodriguez has come to terms with his diagnosis, he still faces stigma and prejudice because of it, and Martinez did not want to perpetuate any stereotypes within “Mi Media Naranja.” So, the two of them went through the script together and made edits, ensuring both factual and emotional accuracy.
Kayla Mkandawire came to see the showing of the short film Wednesday night. She is a friend of Martinez and came out to support the filmmaker. Mkandawire also has friends with HIV, and she acknowledged her own biases towards HIV due to lack of knowledge.
“I really like that this movie showcased it in a positive light and actually helped me understand that, like, they are people who are humans and they have lives, and that we should celebrate those lives as well, no matter what a blood test says about them,” Mkandawire said.
“Mi Media Naranja” has only been shown to Martinez’s class in 2023, a few film festivals and now at IU’s World AIDS Day 2025. Martinez wants to continue to share his film, and may post it online in the future.
While he made the film two years ago as an assignment, Martinez said he feels like it speaks volumes about community and paying tribute to those lost. Rodriguez had a similar takeaway about attempting to continue living to the fullest in the face of a diagnosis.
“I think that anybody with HIV or without HIV, whenever you’re facing things in life, we often forget to look back and see the countless mountains that we’ve already conquered, the traumas that we may still carry with us, and that we’re getting through it,” Rodriguez said. “And I think anyone can take that message away in life that it might be fucked up, but it is still beautiful.”
