"We Were Here" (US Documentary 2011)

[pkristen]

Summary: The story of the AIDS awareness, crisis and reflection as told through personal stories, pictures and video clips. The interviewees come from different aspects of the crisis: Shanti supporter, a medical nurse (and lesbian), political leader, artist, and the flower guy on the corner.

Review: I came out as a lesbian and an activist in 1988, so I naturally have a certain sensitivity about the subject of AIDS. My very first meeting of the Gay and Lesbian Student Union at UC Irvine was an AIDS Workshop. And one of the first true volunteer activities I did was for AIDS Walk O.C. So in a very minor way, I have always considered myself an AIDS activist during that time though I definitely did not do nearly as much as others did.

This documentary was a wonderful refresher of memories and facts from back then, and thankfully ends on a note of being hopeful instead of the despair, fear and anger that I had remembered from back then.