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“We were very excited. Excited by the summer, by the camera, by being together.”
In the summer of 1989 Marion, David and François Pain took a camera with them to the Adirondacks lakes region of New York State. Passing it from hand to hand they captured a video diary of a vacation spent together in freedom, creativity, love and melancholy. "Every day, the group filmed each other, experimenting with spontaneous, intimate moments. The camera moves between them, emotions are exchanged along with it. More than just documentation, the film reveals the way they looked at each other, created together, and made space for one another —friendship and collaboration as a tender, furious act of witnessing. David Wojnarowicz had known since 1988 that he had AIDS. In Summer 89, Marion’s eye is that of a friend, imbuing David’s gestures with memory of the love and friendship they shared." ~ Christina Demetriou
Director
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.

The story of the onset of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980s, taking an unflinching look at the nation's sexual politics as gay activists and their allies in the medical community fight to expose the truth about the burgeoning epidemic to a city and nation in denial.