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“We die they do nothing!”
On May 21, 1990, roughly 1,000 activists and members of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) marched on the Bethesda, Maryland campus of the National Institute of Health to protest the lack of available drugs to treat HIV/AIDS. Dr. Anthony Fauci, then director of the NIAID (the AIDS arm of the NIH), watches as the activists march around his building, demanding inclusion in his clinical research committees. Meanwhile, a young gay filmmaker captures the events of the protest while attempting to deliver a package to Fauci. As the demonstrations threaten to upend the scientists' work, both men are forced to reckon with the meaning of power and responsibility.
Director
Writer
Status
Released
Original Language
EN
A 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.