Filming for A Closer Walk took place over a period of two and a half years, beginning in early 2000. During this time Robert Bilheimer and his crew visited dozens of locations on four continents, interviewing or profiling more than 75 children, women, and men across the broad spectrum of the global AIDS experience.

From time to time Robert Bilheimer wrote letters home to his family and friends about his feelings as he and his colleagues experienced the harsh realities of the AIDS pandemic. These letters were eventually read and shared by thousands of people in the United States and abroad, who found them to be a compelling account of one human being’s discovery of the way the world really is.