How To Survive A Plague Director
David France says his film documents a legacy we can all claim.
The
Oscar-nominated Plague offers a fearless
look at the rise and success of HIV/AIDS advocacy groups ACT UP (AIDS
Coalition To Unleash Power) and TAG (Treatment Action Group). The
powerful movie pieces together archival footage to tell the story of
two coalitions – ACT UP and TAG – “whose activism and
innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable
condition.”
In
accepting the GLAAD Media Award for outstanding documentary on
Saturday, France said the film casts a light on “one of the worst
chapters in American history.”
“How to Survive A Plague
is about a personal history. It's what I saw. It's what many of you
saw. It's a history that somehow got lost. About how a microscopic
virus exposed one of the worst chapters in American history,”
France told the crowd.
“And
how political indifference and religious hostility allowed an
infection that claimed at first 41 people to go on to claim over 70
million people. And how our community worked together to build a
safety net to take care of people who were sick and respond to the
epidemic.”
“And
that's an incredible story and an incredible legacy we can all
claim,” he added. (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)