“HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE”— Battling for Life
“How To Survive A Plague”
Battling for Life
Amos Lassen
Premiering at Sundance this year is David France’s “How to Survive a Plague”. I have not yet seen it but I do want everyone to be aware of what looks like a very powerful film. The documentary is the untold story of the efforts that were able to have AIDS turned into a disease that could be managed and the people who were responsible for this. These man and women had no scientific training but they managed to infiltrate both government agencies and the pharmaceutical industry and helped to identify the new compounds that went through trial runs and were rushed to people in unbelievable record time and thereby saving lives.
The film uses never-before-seen archival footage and this is an intense film about AIDS and how it was no longer a sentence of death. Young HIV positive activists helped to develop breakthrough medications and millions of lives were saved. This is a story of activism and we see film of protests in the 1980’s and we are still reaping the results. It is inspiring and it is so important for us to remember when we came together as a community and fought for our lives.
- Posted in: GLBT documentary
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