Category Archives:  Films / Movies

How to Survive A Plague (film)

If you've ever felt a deep, burning commitment to a cause, but weren't sure how to begin to speak out about it, see this documentary for outright inspiration.  Then, like so many heroes we meet in this film, do something about it in a bold way.  The men and women on the early battlegrounds of the AIDS epidemic/plague/CRISIS were the essence of humanity as they stood up against egregious infractions to all of our civil rights.

How to Survive A Plague, journalist David France's gripping documentary chronicling the birth of ACT UP and the strides it made in getting AIDS treatments out of the laboratory & into the bodies of the infected & dying, opened last week at the IFC in New York and has a robust schedule of screenings across the country in the coming weeks. The images I have posted only begin to channel the energy of the late '80s and early '90s carrying through this 109 minute tale.   (more…)

Public Speaking (movie)

Okay, this movie came out two years ago.  And it runs about an hour & a half, primarily of Fran Lebowitz talking - just giving her opinions on life.  It's insightful and sometimes hilarious and some of the points she makes are indeed debatable.  But why am I bringing this up now?  How, exactly, does it connect to the theme of this blog?  She talks about history - her personal history in the culture of NYC.  And as you know, she came up through the ranks via Interview magazine and Andy Warhol.   So yeah, she was deep in "out" culture when AIDS hit.  And she takes a moment to remember what happened.   (more…)

GNORML

A small group of independent filmmakers in Los Angeles are preparing to shoot a film about a photographer with a germ phobia and a secret:  she is HIV positive.  Their very original story, titled "GNORML" (pronounced "Normal"), has a unique element in that the photographer is a female, and on a mission to overcome the stigma associated with being HIV positive, as well as find out what exactly it means to be so-called normal.   (more…)

deepsouth – documentary feature opens in DC July 24

In the southern United States, the reach of the AIDS epidemic is real, and it is growing.  In a region of society where many continue to consider it a sin to be homosexual and AIDS a curse from God, those who are HIV infected are ostracized, quarantined, denied services, and left to their own devices - while often already existing in grave poverty.  And it should come as no surprise that the African-American population has the highest numbers for both men and women infected by HIV. Among those who want this to end are the filmmakers behind the new documentary feature film deepsouth.  Traveling 13,000 miles over  (more…)