We Were Here The AIDS Years in San Francisco
An intimate, yet epic history of the AIDS years in San Francisco, as told through the stories of five longtime San Franciscans. The film documents the coming of what was called the "Gay Plague" in the early 1980s. It illuminates the profound personal and community issues raised by the AIDS epidemic as well as the broad political and social upheavals it unleashed. WE WERE HERE offers a cathartic validation for the generation that suffered through, and responded to, the onset of AIDS. It opens a window of understanding to those who have only the vaguest notions of what transpired in those years and provides insight into what society could, and should, offer its citizens in the way of medical care, social services, and community support.
"Of all the cinematic explorations of the AIDS crisis, not one is more heartbreaking and inspiring than WE WERE HERE... The humility, wisdom and cumulative sorrow expressed lend the film a glow of spirituality and infuse it with grace... ONE OF THE TOP TEN FILMS OF THE YEAR." - Stephen Holden, New York Times
"An extraordinarily moving examination of how the AIDS epidemic both devastated and transformed San Francisco's gay community, this clear-eyed and soulful documentary brings us inside the contagion in a way that is so intimate, so personal, you feel like you're hearing about these catastrophic events for the first time." - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
2013 Emmy Nomination for Outstanding History Documentary
2011 Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best Documentary***
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Comments (3)
This film is a beautiful record of the LGBTQ+ population and their struggle with AIDS, and as a queer man myself I'm humbled and heartbroken that the previous generation suffered from such a wretched disease. It's inspiring though that the efforts and lives of these people helped work ...Read more
This film is a beautiful record of the LGBTQ+ population and their struggle with AIDS, and as a queer man myself I'm humbled and heartbroken that the previous generation suffered from such a wretched disease. It's inspiring though that the efforts and lives of these people helped work towards the progress we have today.
I wish I could have known these men and women, but at least this film reminds me that they were here, that they were queer, and that they were loved.
Read lessI recently had a conversation with a young gay man from Cameroon, who recently received asylum here in the US. He told me that while still in Africa, he’d watched We Were Here more than a dozen times! When I asked him why, he told me that his first lover had committed suicide because he was ...Read more
I recently had a conversation with a young gay man from Cameroon, who recently received asylum here in the US. He told me that while still in Africa, he’d watched We Were Here more than a dozen times! When I asked him why, he told me that his first lover had committed suicide because he was gay, and his 2nd lover died of AIDS. Watching We Were Here allowed him access to his feelings about losing them. That was pretty mind-blowing for me.
Read lessIn honor of LGBT history month Kanopy is pleased to offer "We Were Here".
This film explores the personal and community issues raised by the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco by following 5 individuals who lived in San Francisco prior to the epidemic. From their different vantage points as ...Read more
In honor of LGBT history month Kanopy is pleased to offer "We Were Here".
Read lessThis film explores the personal and community issues raised by the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco by following 5 individuals who lived in San Francisco prior to the epidemic. From their different vantage points as caregivers, activists, researchers, as friends and lovers of the afflicted, and as people with AIDS themselves, the interviewees share stories which are not only intensely personal, but which also illuminate the much larger themes of that era: the political and sexual complexities, the terrible emotional toll, the role of women – particularly lesbians – in caring for and fighting for their gay brothers.