Frameline Film Festival: Act Up Oral History Project Series 

The oral history project that was started by directors Jim Hubbard, Sarah Schulman, and James Wentzy chronicles the experiences of LGBT communities and their straight ally activists when the AIDS virus first came to light in the medical community. ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power) was a grassroots, advocacy organization, which organized in the 1980s to unite for direct action in combating the AIDS epidemic.

In this on going project that has stretched almost a decade, the filmmakers have collected the recollections of over a hundred people and tell us that their work is far from over. Most of the participants are from ACT UP New York, and the documentarians hope that another community activist and filmmaker will follow their example and chronicle the histories of other ACT UP branches in other cities.

The footage from the interviews has been edited into multiple documentary style “episodes”. Each address a different topic or question specific to the ACT UP movement. During this program we see three of these episodes. The first deals with the expanding Center for Disease Control (CDC) definition of AIDS. The two that follow are thirty-three answers to the question: “What was ACT UP’s greatest achievement?”

In the first episode we learn about some of the initial issues with classifying AIDS as only a gay male disease. The CDC refused to acknowledge that a broader portion of the population was dying with the same symptoms as gay men with AIDS. During this section we hear mostly from women as we listen to their experiences and accounts about how they organized, educated, and rallied, often in radical ways, to force the CDC to include women and later IV drug users in its definition of AIDS. Without the definition encompassing these afflicted populations, they couldn’t receive health care, proper treatment, or participate in clinical trials—the same trials that could ultimately extend their lives. This advocacy also changed the patient-doctor dynamics allowing patients, for the first time, to be the experts on their own bodies. In many ways this set the stage for modern patients’ rights.

In the second and third episodes of the oral history series, we hear many varied responses about the greatest accomplishment of ACT UP. Many responses are extremely passionate and insightful, ranging in topic from ACT UP’s ability to organize large amounts of people doing radical things, to specific accomplishments such as educational “teach-ins"

Hopefully, this message of advocacy, organization, and civil disobedience will inspire subsequent generations to ACT UP!

NSRC reviewed films from the 33rd annual Frameline Frameline's San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival through a partnership agreement with Frameline Films. For more information on this or other Frameline films, please contact Frameline Distribution.

Marik Xavier-Brier is a Masters candidate in the Sexuality Studies Department at San Francisco State University where he researches identity and sexuality in virtual worlds. His current research interests include the construction of gay identities, sexual interaction, and sexual citizenship within virtual environments. He is an avid online gamer and has been a resident of Second Life since 2006.