How to Survive a Plague

Documentary looking back at the political and medical battle undertaken by activists that ended the darkest days of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and '90s, turning the virus from a death sentence into a manageable condition.

"Faced with their own mortality, an improbable group of mostly HIV-positive young men and women broke the mold as radical warriors taking on Washington and the medical establishment. 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 archival footage, filmmaker David France puts the viewer smack in the middle of the controversial actions, the heated meetings, the heartbreaking failures, and the exultant breakthroughs." (Sundance Film Festival)

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