Sunday, October 21- 7 PM

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21 | 7 PM | $10
HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE
David France, 2012, 110 min.

Q&A to follow the screening.

Blisteringly powerful, HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE transports us back to a vital time of unbridled death, political indifference, and staggering resilience and constructs a commanding archetype for activism today.

Faced with their own mortality an improbable group of young people, many of them HIV-positive young men, broke the mold as radical warriors taking on Washington and the medical establishment.

HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE is 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. 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.  Proceeds benefit the Hudson Pride Foundation and the AIDS Council of Northeast NY.

“…The first documentary that I have seen that does justice to this story of a civil rights movement rising from the ashes of our dead.”
 Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Beast

“Served powerfully, with minimal adornment… A moving and meticulous documentary about AIDS activism in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s”
 A.O. Scott, The New York Times

“…An epic celebration of heroism and tenacity, and less directly, a useful template for any fledgling activist movement, demonstrating the effectiveness of inside/outside strategy.”
 David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

“One of the most important documentaries in years or decades.” – Salon