Showing posts with label How to Survive A Plague. Show all posts
Showing posts with label How to Survive A Plague. Show all posts

Monday, January 14, 2013

Friday, October 12, 2012

How to Survive a Plague, a chapter in gay history, comes to Denver today!

IFC Films presents HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE, the story of two coalitions—ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group)—whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition.

HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE opens at the Denver Film Center Colfax on October 12!

Check out the MileHighGayGuy interview with director David France here.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

How To Survive A Plague opens in Denver this Friday!

IFC Films presents HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE, the story of two coalitions—ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group)—whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition.

HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE opens at the Denver Film Center Colfax on October 12!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Director David France talks How To Survive A Plague

By Drew Wilson

How to Survive A Plague, a documentary from journalist/filmmaker David France, tells the story of ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group) - whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. Despite having no scientific training, these self-made activists infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and helped identify promising new drugs, moving them from experimental trials to patients in record time.

With unfettered access to a treasure trove of never-before-seen archival footage from the 1980s and '90s, filmmaker David France puts the viewer smack in the middle of the controversial actions, the heated meetings, the heartbreaking failures, and the exultant breakthroughs of heroes in the making.

Dedicated to France's lover, Colorado native Doug Gould, who died of AIDS complications in 1992, the film has been getting rave reviews and premieres in Denver on Sunday, October 21.


Drew Wilson: David, How to Survive A Plague has been getting rave reviews. How does that feel and what have been some of your favorite responses to the movie?
David Francis: I am mostly surprised but also heartened by the way that younger audiences are responding to it. It’s such an historic story. It’s from my gay youth but people see an inspiration in it for the whole community, I think. The feedback I get from people is this kind of new or renewed sense of community and that’s really rewarding.

As a journalist, you’ve been covering HIV/AIDS and the gay community since the early days. What was that like?
I began covering it for Gay Community News which, at the time, was a well-respected weekly out of Boston and really the only paper doing true gay journalism at the time. The Advocate existed but they weren’t really doing reporting. Then New York Native came out and became the go-to paper for anyone interested in AIDS, the scientific community, the infected and affected communities. 

HIV and AIDS was so scary and coverage was so controversial back then. Did you encounter a lot of resistance to your reporting?
I was reporting in the gay presses so there was no resistance, only hunger for the information people needed to survive. By 1983 or 1984, half of the gay male population in New Yorkwas HIV positive. We were in constant crisis mode and we really couldn’t produce enough news to satisfy the need for information. I started covering the crisis in 1981 or 1982 and it wasn’t until 1987 that the first pill came out. What people were looking for was just some hope, something to hold onto that they could get through this. We were reporting on underground drug experiments and underground pharmacies across the country where people would go to get drugs illegally. If people died during the drug trials their friend and lovers would bring whatever drugs they had left to these underground pharmacists so there was a real network of stuff that was happening - none of which produced any good results, but without it the prognosis was certain death.

And that feeling of having nothing to lose was a big part of the reason why ACT UP came bursting out of the “underground.”
Yes, they came from the underground with the realization that the underground wasn’t going to save them. They had to go above ground. They had to go to Big Pharma and the FDA and convince them and direct them into the proper way to fight this epidemic. And that’s the trajectory of the characters in the film as they ultimately invade the halls of science and force themselves into partnerships with doctors and scientists. They weren’t being welcomed, they had to knock the doors down.

And in addition to resistance from “above ground” establishments, ACT UP faced a lot of resistance and condemnation even from segments of the GLBT community.
It was so controversial, what they were doing. They were breaking laws, they were engaging in civil disobedience. They were shouting down politicians and disturbing the peace and many GLBT organizations opposed them officially. But their strength was that they had thousands of people worldwide who became part of the ACT UP movement and the could show up at any place and any time with thousands of people arguing a single point and that showed that they had grassroots support and that gave them the strength to pursue their points.

Looking back, what would you say is the legacy of ACT UP and AIDS activism?
AIDS activism changed everything. In declaring their rights to healthcare they first had to declare their rights to civil rights and that gave us the acceptance we see today for gays and lesbians. When the epidemic opened in 1981 we didn’t have any of that stuff. Nobody was talking gay marriage. There was nobody who even saw that as a possibility back then. Out of the ashes of this terrible plague came the modern gay rights movement and that’s pretty phenomenal.

Do you think ‘How to Survive A Plague’ will bring a renewed sense of urgency to the fight against HIV/AIDS?
Man, I hope so. Have you looked at the statistics of what’s going on out there? HIV rates of men who have sex with men are skyrocketing. It’s crazy, 58 percent of all new infections are young gay and bisexual men and those men only make up one percent of the population. It’s a growing epidemic in the community and people don’t talk about it. Young men are so disconnected from the idea of HIV that they don’t know if they are positive or negative.

As a community we need to embrace the idea of responsibility to one another and love for one another and oneself. That message, if we can get people to see it, is an infectious message. We need to be reminded that we are part of a community and that we have a burden and responsibility and opportunity and that, I think, is the message of the film.

What message do you have for readers of MileHighGayGuy and Denver’s gay community?
Everybody needs to know the inspirational quality of our history. The empowerment that we inherit from generation to generation, the shoulders that we stand on, and that we come from a line of heroes. This is a story about the heroes that made it possible for us to be alive today. This is our story.


Friday, September 28, 2012

Win tickets to advance Denver screening of How To Survive A Plague

Want to be one of the lucky few to see an advance Denver screening of HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE on Wednesday, October 3 at 7pm?

You can enter to win an admit-two pass by texting the word EQUALITY and your ZIP CODE to 43549.

(Entry deadline: 10/1 at midnight; Example Text: EQUALITY 80246). Winners will be notified on Tuesday, October 2.  There is no charge to text 43KIX. Message and data rates from your wireless carrier may apply. Remember, movie companies overbook previews, so arrive early because seating is not guaranteed.

IFC Films presents HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE, the story of two coalitions—ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group)—whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE opens at the Denver Film Center Colfax on October 12!

Friday, September 21, 2012

Win free passes to advance screening of How To Survive A Plague

Want to be one of the lucky few to see an advance Denver screening of HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE on Wednesday, October 3 at 7pm?

You can enter to win an admit-two pass by texting the word EQUALITY and your ZIP CODE to 43549.

(Entry deadline: 10/1 at midnight; Example Text: EQUALITY 80246). Winners will be notified on Tuesday, October 2.  There is no charge to text 43KIX. Message and data rates from your wireless carrier may apply. Remember, movie companies overbook previews, so arrive early because seating is not guaranteed.

IFC Films presents HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE, the story of two coalitions—ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group)—whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE opens at the Denver Film Center Colfax on October 12!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Film: How to Survive A Plague


HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE is the story of the brave young men and women who successfully reversed the tide of an epidemic, demanded the attention of a fearful nation and stopped AIDS from becoming a death sentence.
This improbable group of activists bucked oppression and, with no scientific training, infiltrated government agencies and the pharmaceutical industry, helping to identify promising new medication and treatments and move them through trials and into drugstores in record time. In the process, they saved their own lives and ended the darkest days of a veritable plague, while virtually emptying AIDS wards in American hospitals in the process.
The powerful story of their fight is a classic tale of empowerment and activism that has since inspired movements for change in everything from breast cancer research to Occupy Wall Street. Their story stands as a powerful inspiration to future generations, a road map, and a call to arms.
This is how you change the world.