How to Survive a Plague

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  • Opened September 21, 2012 (NY)
  • 1 hr 50 min
  • NR

  • In the dark days of 1987, the country was six years into the AIDS epidemic, a crisis that was still largely being ignored both by government officials and health organizations -until the sudden emergence of the activist group ACT UP in Greenwich Village, largely made up of HIV-positive participants who refused to die without a fight. Emboldened by the power of rebellion, they took on the challenges that public officials had ignored, raising awareness of the disease through a series of dramatic protests. More remarkably, they became recognized experts in virology, biology, and pharmaceutical chemistry. Their efforts would see them seize the reins of federal policy from the FDA and NIH, force the AIDS conversation into the 1992 presidential election, and guide the way to the discovery of effective AIDS drugs that stopped an HIV diagnosis from being an automatic death sentence - and allowed them to live long lives. Full synopsis

  • Cast: Peter Staley, Garance Franke-Riuta, Mark Harrington, Spencer Cox, Larry Kramer, Bill Bahlman, David Barr, Gregg Bordowitz, Gregg Gonsalves, Derek Link, Iris Long
  • Director: David France
  • Genres: Documentary

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Fan Reviews

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How To Survive a Plague

by mullinobud

Outstanding documentary on the early responses to the HIV/AIDS Crisis. How the gay community took the reins and addressed the problem when the leaders of the country would not. Definitely a ...

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One Of Those "Must See" Documentaries

by WooferBearATL

I have to say... I had not heard about this movie until I heard about it on the Derek & Romaine Show... And I'm really glad that I did. I grew up in the 80's... I remember when they used to give...

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Raw Energy

by Chitan

Amazing, humbling, profound, inspiring, moving, empowering. Just a few words to describe this film. David France takes you to the front lines of the war on AIDS from 1987-1994. Watching in the...

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Critic Reviews

100
San Francisco Chronicle
| Amy Biancolli

When it's over, this documentary lingers as a testament to extraordinary human bravery. It stands as one of the most heartbreaking and suspenseful sagas of the year. Read full review

100
Boston Globe
| Wesley Morris

We're now far enough from that era that seeing it all again feels like a slap to the face in the same way that watching certain moments in the civil rights epic "Eyes on the Prize" chills your bones. This doesn't have that series' stately magnitude. It's smaller and crasser, but it's comparatively galvanic. Read full review

95
NPR
| Ella Taylor

ACT UP soldiers on today, as it must, given the lack of official attention to the resurgence of HIV among young American men in metropolitan areas. Read full review

90
Wall Street Journal
| Joe Morgenstern

What's so remarkable about their decadeslong campaign, though, is how desperation led to inspiration - to the inspired notion that they, as nonscientists, could still take their fate in their own hands. Read full review

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Photos

Peter Staley in "How to Survive a Plague."