A look at AIDS' youngest victims

A remarkable story rooted in Africa's AIDS pandemic, the documentary "Angels in the Dust" details the lives of a fiercely devoted woman and more than 500 children who depend upon her for their survival. Marion Cloete, along with her husband and daughters, established the village of Boikarabelo (formerly Botshabelo) in South Africa to clothe, feed and educate children who have lost their parents to the virus or are HIV-positive.

The saintly Cloete and her family gave up the good life in a well-to-do Johannesburg suburb to dedicate themselves to helping the youngest victims of the AIDS crisis. Writer-director Louise Hogarth shrinks an enormous issue down to human terms in documenting life at the orphanage. In intimate detail, the children calmly recount the horrors visited upon them as Cloete provides a hands-on tour with running commentary. Although surrounded by death, the children are helped in dealing with it by Cloete, a university-trained therapist, and they have surprisingly cheerful dispositions, infusing the film with an uplifting subtext.

As inspiring as the film is, Hogarth and her subjects never let the audience forget the tenuous position of the village's young residents. The school offers them a chance to better their lots, but they are constantly on the brink of being pulled back into a cycle of poverty, violence and disease.

The film's power lies in its ability to synthesize these complex emotions while drawing much needed attention to the continent-wide catastrophe.

-- Kevin Crust

"Angels in the Dust." MPAA rating: Unrated. In English and local dialects with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes. At Laemmle's Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 274-6869.

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