Voices From the Front (1991) (VHSrip) (Documentary)

Documentary about AIDS activism in the U.S., 1988-1991. English. Produced by the Testing the Limits collective (1991, 90 minutes, English). This is a VHSrip, Divx and mp3, avi file. Synopsis: In New York City, a distraught activist confronts the mayor with a story of a friend who languished on a cot in an emergency room hallway for nine days, only to die 48 hours after leaving the hospital. A woman is interviewed during a rally to stop the closing of a hospital in Harlem, a section of the city disproportionately affected by AIDS. In 1988, thousands of activists from across the country hold the Food and Drug Administration under siege, demanding speedier drug approval. In 1990 they converge again, this time on the National Institutes of Health, calling for a more equitable clinical trial system and expanded research into new drugs and treatment. Voices from the Front, the first feature-length documentary to comprehensively cover the AIDS activist movement in America, makes clear the emotional and political effects of community activism using the voices of those directly engaged. It's a powerful distillation of pictures and words from events organized to change public consciousness, expose profiteering by pharmaceutical companies, and challenge government inaction and neglect concerning AIDS. As the late Vito Russo says in the tape, "We're going to fundamentally change the health care system in this country . . . I don't think it's stoppable now." -- Robert Hawk http://www.planetout.com/popcornq/db/getfilm.html?534