Let's Talk aBout Sex DOCUMENTARY AND CAMPAIGN TAKE ON SEXUAL HEALTH CRISIS

New York-based photographer James Houston was inspired to make the film Let's Talk About Sex after traveling the world, and realizing that, while American teens live in a society that uses sex to sell everything from lipstick to laptops, they are rarely afforded opportunities to discuss sex in an open, honest way. “Youth in the United States are facing a health crisis of high rates of pregnancy and STD’s nationwide. We are failing our children by not having healthy, productive conversations with them about sex. It is my hope that ‘LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX’ will be both the catalyst and the tool we need to start those conversations in family rooms and classrooms across the country,” said Houston.

In ‘LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX,’ Houston travels to a high school for pregnant teens in Los Angeles where young girls are contemplating teen parenthood; to Washington, D.C., where HIV infection rates rival several African countries; and to the Netherlands, where the film-maker contrasts European attitudes about sex with those in America. The film concludes in Oregon, where the lessons learned in Western Europe are helping to create practical solutions.

The film, produced in collaboration with Advocates for Youth, the leading non-profit organization focused on issues relating to adolescent reproductive health, uses real parents and youth, compelling statistics, animation and archival material to paint an entertaining yet urgent picture of American youth. Dr. John Santelli, Department Chair, Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University says of the film “The silence around sexuality is deafening and young people are paying the price. LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX provides a vision for the future – for parents, schools, and society.”

“Young people in America don’t know the risks associated with sex, and because of that, American teen pregnancy and STD rates are among the highest in the industrialized world,” Houston said. “Irrespective of your personal beliefs about sex, we can all agree that we want to see those rates as low as possible. LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX both illuminates this serious challenge and is an important tool that parents, educators and health communities can use to get more of these conversations started.”

More information about the film can be found at www.letstalkaboutsexthefilm.com.