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HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE (DOCUMENTARY FILM)

Summary

This Academy Award-nominated documentary uses extensive archival footage to chronicle the birth and work of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, or ACT UP, in the 1980s and 1990s.

The program begins in 1987, when AIDS was nearly 100 percent fatal and was causing a panic in its epicenter, New York City. ACT UP members question Mayor Ed Koch at a meeting about his lack of productive action against AIDS, and playwright Jim Eigo explains that the city's emergency rooms need significant improvement. Many protesters congregate outside City Hall, declaring that "health care is a right" and demanding action; many are dragged off and arrested by police. Peter Staley describes his diagnosis and early involvement with ACT UP upon realizing how little effort the government was putting forth to research and halt the disease, eventually quitting his job as a bond trader to become a full-time activist. Group members stage a peaceful "kiss-in" at St. Vincent's Hospital to protest violent discrimination by the staff. Dr. Barbara Starrett describes the lack of drugs and quick deaths of AIDS victims in the early days, saying that they were "grasping at straws" and creating their own underground drug trials. Chemist Iris Long speaks up at a meeting and Larry Kramer describes how Long volunteered to educate the group about the technicalities of the government, the healthcare system and the science of AIDS, prompting the creation of the Treatment and Data group, or T&D.

Garance Franke-Ruta, a teenager at the time, explains how they soon "all became scientists," adding that Mark Harrington created a useful glossary of technical terms for group members. Robert Rafsky talks about coming out at age forty after marrying and having a daughter, saying that people should not be punished for "doing a human thing" and becoming infected. The drug azidothymidine, or AZT, was soon released, but was unattainable for many at a cost of $10,000 per year; protesters demanded a more reasonable price. Franke-Ruta explains that many experimented with "what-the-hell drugs" of indeterminate efficiency, and many turned to the black market for overseas drugs still unapproved in the U.S. ACT UP gathers outside a FDA building in Rockville, Maryland, demanding that they test other drugs more speedily, leading to 185 arrests. Staley appears on CNN's "Crossfire" with Tom Braden and Pat Buchanan, explaining that AZT is toxic to many and promoting the use of condoms, as total celibacy is an unrealistic demand. It is soon discovered that a drug called Dihydroxyphenylglycine, or DHPG, can help to prevent AIDS-related blindness. The group fights in Bethesda, Maryland to have the drug made more available. ACT UP then creates a treatment agenda, having realized the lack of a clear global strategy, and they journey to Montreal to promote their plan. The trip is a successful one, and Dr. Susan Ellenberg takes their agenda back to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Bristol-Meyers pharmaceutical company then develops a drug called Didanosine, or DDI, which helps to save AIDS patients' eyesight.

Dr. Emilio Emini of Merck & Co. describes in detail how cells are infected with HIV and how protease inhibitors can stop this process. The Catholic Church and Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor then begin speaking out strongly against condoms. ACT UP members rally at St. Patrick's Cathedral, with artist Ray Navarro dressing as Jesus Christ and disputing O'Connor's claims. Rafsky celebrates his 44th birthday, and ACT UP members question Dr. Anthony Fauci of the NIH about their lack of progress and skewed research priorities. They protest in Bethesda again against the group's "secret meetings," arguing that members of the AIDS community itself should be allowed to participate in the decision-making. In San Francisco, Staley speaks onstage at the International AIDS Conference about President George H.W. Bush's lack of action and his immigration laws toward AIDS patients; the group learns that they have indeed inflicted change on the NIH's policies. As 1990 dawns, Merck deals with frustrating research setbacks, and President Bush and strongly homophobic Senator Jesse Helms (R, North Carolina) remain unhelpful and harmful to the cause, prompting ACT UP members to cover Helms' house in an enormous symbolic condom. The death rate continues climbing, largely thanks to "opportunistic infections" caused by weakened immune systems. Staley and the others visit Daiichi Pharmaceutical to demand production of a drug that combats both Kaposi's sarcoma and breast cancer, and both Rafsky and Staley voice their doubt that they will outlive the epidemic.

By 1991, ACT UP members begin fighting among themselves, and the T&D group is accused of being "elite" as the members argue over priorities and appropriate action. Kramer angrily berates the group for squabbling pointlessly in the middle of the "plague," and eventually several members split off and form the Treatment Action Group, or TAG. By 1992, Merck develops Crixivan, which proves somewhat useful. As Election Day nears, Rafsky publicly heckles presidential hopeful Bill Clinton and is applauded at a meeting for his outspokenness. In Washington D.C., thousands gather at the AIDS Memorial Quilt as the names of the deceased are read out, and many carry the ashes of their loved ones, which they scatter on the White House lawn in protest. During a debate, Bush suggests that "behavioral change" will slow the epidemic, and in Greenwich Village, many gather at a public funeral held for an AIDS victim; Rafsky speaks about the man as a symbol of the movement. Rafksy himself continues spending time with his family, and eventually dies in 1993. A European study proves that not only AZT but DDI and DDC (Dideoxycytidine) are largely ineffective, and Staley admits that the group's goals were "short-sighted" as several members discuss their declining sense of hope. Saquinavir is developed in 1994, but ACT UP and TAG disagree about "early approval" and a speedy testing process, not wanting to repeat the mistakes of the other drugs. David Barr explains that 1993 through 1995 were especially dark times, but that they "got lucky" in 1996. It is revealed that Harrington, Staley and several others are still living. They explain that "combination therapy," a specific triple-drug plan, has proven effective and caused a "Lazarus effect" with many ill patients, though they reflect that it could have happened far sooner. The activists address their mixed feelings and sense of uncertainty about their newly possible futures, wanting their lives to continue being meaningful. Kramer declares that it was entirely ACT UP's efforts that secured the necessary drugs.

The film concludes by noting the activists' later lives and careers, including Staley's founding of AIDSmeds.com and Kramer's writing of the award-winning play "The Normal Heart." It is explained that six million lives have been saved by the drugs, though many still cannot afford them and die as a result, and that further action is still needed.

Details

  • NETWORK: N/A
  • DATE: November 30, 2011
  • RUNNING TIME: 1:49:29
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: 110390
  • GENRE: Documentary
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Documentary; AIDS; Protest movement; LGBT Collection
  • SERIES RUN: N/A
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Joy Tomchin … Executive Producer
  • Dan Cogan … Executive Producer
  • Alan Getz … Co-Executive Producer
  • David France … Producer, Director, Writer
  • Howard Gertler … Producer
  • Stan Tomchin … Co-Producer
  • Henry Van Ameringen … Co-Producer
  • T. Woody Richman … Co-Producer, Writer
  • Jim Hubbard … Associate Producer
  • Peggy Farber … Associate Producer
  • Lindy Linder … Associate Producer
  • Chad Hahne … Associate Producer
  • Loring McAlpin … Associate Producer
  • The Ted Snowdon Foundation … Associate Producer
  • Jonathan Starch … Consulting Producer
  • Caitlin Tartaro … DI Producer
  • Ron Dodo … Research Producer
  • Tyler H. Walk … Writer
  • Stuart Bogie … Music by
  • Luke O'Malley … Music by
  • Arthur Russell … Music by
  • David Barr
  • Tom Braden
  • Pat Buchanan
  • George H.W. Bush
  • Bill Clinton
  • Jim Eigo
  • Susan Ellenberg
  • Emilio Emini
  • Anthony Fauci
  • Garance Franke-Ruta
  • Ed Koch
  • Larry Kramer
  • Mark Harrington
  • Jesse Helms
  • Iris Long
  • Ray Navarro
  • John Joseph O'Connor
  • Robert Rafsky
  • Peter Staley
  • Barbara Starrett