AIDS - fight for life

Movie
German title	AIDS - fight for life
Original title	How to Survive a Plague
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	2012
length	110 minutes
Rod
Director	David France
script	David France ; Todd Woody Richman ; Tyler H. Walk
production	Dan Cogan
music	Stuart Bogie
camera	Derek Wiesehahn
cut	Todd Woody Richman ; Tyler H. Walk

AIDS - Kampf ums Leben (Original title: How to Survive a Plague ) is a documentary from 2012 about the early days of the HIV virus and the lobbying work of the organization Act Up .

At the 2013 Academy Awards , the film was nominated in the Best Documentary Category .

Emergence

AIDS - Fight for Life is the first film project by director David France , who reported on AIDS for many years as a journalist . France dedicated the film to his partner, who died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1992 . Over 700 hours of footage were used in the production, including news reports, interviews, recordings of demonstrations, meetings and conferences, some of which were recorded by members of the Act Up group themselves.

The film premiered in several cinemas in the United States on September 21, 2012 and screened at the Sundance Film Festival on September 22 .

content

The documentary reports on the spread of the HI virus in the United States since the late 1980s . The focus is on activists and those affected, such as bond dealer Peter Staley, who was diagnosed with AIDS at the age of 26. Staley then joins the AIDS activist group Act Up to jointly protest against the indifference of the American government and the pharmaceutical industry . The film shows the struggle for effective drugs against HIV up to the first therapeutic breakthroughs in the mid-1990s.

In addition to the activists of the Act Up organization , AIDS researchers (e.g. Mathilde Krim ), authors (e.g. Larry Kramer ) and politicians (e.g. Ed Koch ) are shown. The film also includes archive footage of George HW Bush , Bill Clinton and Jesse Helms .

reception

Reviews

The film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes has 70 reviews, of which 99% (69 reviews) gave the film a positive rating. The consensus among critics is: "Angry, formidable and engaging, How to Survive a Plague is a brilliantly constructed documentary about the activists pushing for action to fight the AIDS epidemic." Metacritic awarded 86 out of 100 points based on 23 reviews.

"As this rousing, meticulous documentary shows, Act Up members combined the zeal of revolutionaries, the tenacity of defense lawyers, and the anger of the dispossessed to change the epidemic from the ground up."

- Owen Gleiberman : Entertainment Weekly

“We are getting used to the names and faces of many of the leaders of the movement. Some look straight into the camera and say they expect to die from the disease. Some are right. "

- Roger Ebert : Chicago Sun-Times

"An extraordinary portrait of a community in crisis and the focused anger of their response."

- Sheri Linden : Los Angeles Times

"This is a passionate account of the highly competitive breakthrough in making HIV controllable."

- David Rooney : Hollywood Reporter

"David France draws on fascinating archive material from the circles of the activists and shows how one can change the world with persistence and solidarity."

- Zurich Film Festival