Review of How to Survive a Plague (2012) by Christopher Llewellyn R — 10 Feb 2013

This film tells the tale of how a group of determined (mostly gay, but not exclusively) activists succeeded in discovering a workable set of medications and medical procedures to combat the AIDS epidemic. It chronicles the birth of Act Up and other groups that tried to channel the fear and outrage provoked by the rise of HIV, and the lack of governmental action to combat it, into something positive. Hats off to these courageous men and women - many of whom died - as their actions saved the lives of millions.

"How to Survive a Plague," like "Searching for Sugar Man" and "5 Broken Cameras," is told almost entirely through archival footage. It's amazing that all of this old video from the 1980s and 1990s exists - what a triumph of preservation! It's also interesting for filmmakers like me to watch the quality of the footage improve over time, as we get closer to the present.

The non-archival footage consists of present-day talking heads. And since we see many of the people in the film die, I liked the device of holding off revealing who had survived (which we know when we see their talking head), as it created an additional layer of drama to the already compelling narrative of the terrible AIDS epidemic.