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GREENSBORO — Maital Guttman’s photos, held up by clothespins, hang from a thick rope that runs along an entire wall at the Green Bean.

At first glance, her exhibit looks like a backyard clothesline. But look closer, and you’ll realize there’s something more to these frozen moments Guttman captured of a woman no more than 25.

Her name is Beaty Jonas, and she’s from South Africa. She lives in Nekkies, a township of shacks just outside Cape Town, and she runs an AIDS education center and raises her 2-year-old daughter, Timmy, by herself.

Maital photographed Beaty and her world during a 10-month stint in South Africa, funded by a $15,000 fellowship from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke, her alma mater.

Maital, a Grimsley High grad, went there two years ago to film a documentary about hero books, or handmade books written, illustrated and put together by kids and young adults to help them overcome their problems.

Beaty (pronounced BEE-tee) became a character in Maital’s 15-minute documentary, “Three In A Million.” On camera, in the clipped English of South Africa, Beaty told Maital about her “Shame Suicide Monster.”

Beaty was raped when she was 13. Today, she is HIV positive.

But that’s where this story begins.

Beaty and Maital are both in their 20s, searching to find themselves and understand their world. They met in Nekkies, Beaty’s hometown, in February 2006.

A week after Maital got there, Beaty’s older sister Jennifer died of AIDS. Maital drove Jennifer to the hospital in her rental car because ambulances take too long to get to Nekkies.

A month after that, Beaty’s 60-year-old mother, Winnie, died of diabetes complications. Maital filmed the memorial service and the funeral, and along the way, Maital the filmmaker became Maital the friend.

Maital helped Beaty with her grief, and Beaty helped Maital with her whiteness and her privilege. Maital carried a video camera that cost more than a neighbor’s shack.

The two went to Canada together. Beaty represented South Africa at the International HIV/AIDS Conference, and the two spent 10 days in Toronto and made three-minute films with other conference participants.

Then, they took the idea back to South Africa and had children and young adults in Nekkies work on their own films at Beaty’s AIDS education center, MADaboutART.

During all those months together, Maital and Beaty danced, laughed and shared sushi. Meanwhile, Maital — the only daughter of a Jewish rabbi — felt the invisible boundaries of race, class and culture melt away.

Beaty felt the same way, too. On a big piece of poster board, she wrote this message to Maital: “One Jewish. One Christian. South Africa. United States. Black. White. HIV positive. HIV negative. One friendship.”

On Saturday, beside her photos clipped to a clothesline at the Green Bean, Maital will talk about her friendship with Beaty. She’s selling her photos to raise money for MADaboutART as well as fund her next project — this one about Beaty.

Maital has 65 hours of film shot. She’s already edited a trailer, which includes a conversation Maital had with Winnie, Beaty’s mother, a month before her death. Two weeks ago, Maital sent the trailer to Beaty. And as she does every month, she called. But this time she was nervous.

“Did you get the trailer?” Maital asked. “What did you think?”

“Yes, I did,” Beaty responded. “It made me sad because I saw Mom talking. But having her say she was proud of me. That was the best gift.”

Two women from opposite sides of everything. Their relationship is far from over.

Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or jeri.rowe@news-record.com