Cinema of AIDS

Brian Robinson gives an illustrated lecture featuring 30 years of the virus on screen. The real-life drama of AIDS that overwhelmed many lives in the early 1980s didn’t make it to the big screen until the mid-1980s. This survey will explore some of the major works of cinema (and television) that helped to promote understanding of the disease. At first only independent filmmakers dared to tackle the crisis. From the pioneering work of An Early Frost (1985), Arthur Bressan’s Buddies (1985) and Bill Sherwood’s Parting Glances (1986), AIDS became a more prevalent theme. TV movies came on board throughout the 1990s, followed by an onslaught of Hollywood heavy-hitters like Philadelphia (1993) and Jeffrey (1995). As the epidemic changed, so the movies transformed from out-and-out tragedy to comedy, musicals, animation and more. The history of AIDS on screen is a rich lesson in how a generation lived.