How to Survive a Plague

"One of the 25 Best Films of The Year"

The eloquence of the movement’s primary speakers makes this film moving and essential.

"A model for the here and now of how social change occurs."

"One of the Top 10 Movies of the Year"

"...Quickens the pulse like a thriller and rouses passions as well as any drama."

"Words like 'important' and 'inspiring' tend too often to be meaninglessly attached to non-fiction filmmaking, but in the case of David France's compelling snapshot of a revolutionary period in AIDS treatment, they are amply justified... An epic celebration of heroism and tenacity, and less directly, a useful template for any fledgling activist movement, demonstrating the effectiveness of inside/outside strategy."

"...Former Newsweek writer David France artfully recounts the history of the activist group 'ACT UP' -- whose iconic logo was SILENCE=DEATH -- in his masterly film HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE."

"Even if you lived through this era, went to protests, wept over the AIDS quilt and believed yourself aware, director David France's assured, seamless directorial debut, rich with archival footage, will teach you something about courage, dedication and the power of well-directed anger."

"The currents of rage, fear, fiery determination and finally triumph that crackle through David France's inspiring documentary, HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE, lend this history of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power a scorching electrical charge."

"I sat down to watch HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE, a new documentary about the history of the AIDS epidemic, expecting to cry, and cry I did...I expected to be angry. Here, too, I wasn't disappointed. What I didn't expect was how much hope I would feel. How much comfort. While the movie vividly chronicles the wages of bigotry and neglect, it even more vividly chronicles how much society can budge when the people exhorting it to are united and determined and smart and right. The fight in us eclipses the sloth and surrender, and the good really does outweigh the bad. That's a takeaway of HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE and that's a takeaway of the AIDS crisis as well."

"Rigorous, impassioned, and powerful-as-hell."

"As this stirring, scrupulous doc reveals, the members of ACT UP fused the fervor of revolutionaries, the tenacity of trial lawyers, and the rage of the dispossessed to change the very shape of the epidemic. In doing so, they found hope where there had been only death..."

"What saved the day was the stubborn persistence of its members, together with the scientific breakthroughs that led to protease inhibitors and combination therapies. Those new tools restored many near-corpses to life and cut the number of AIDS-related deaths in New York by a staggering 50 percent...Occupy movements, take note."

"One of the ten best movies of 2012... If its essence could be bottled, David France's fierce, heartbreaking documentary about the very early days of AIDS activism could serve as a tonic for demoralized political organizers, a bracing reminder that change is possible when a group of committed people come together to fight injustice, indifference, and prejudice...don't miss this cathartic, inspiring film."

How to Survive a Plague is a compellingly watchable portrait of a battle fought under that most memorable rallying cry: "Silence = Death". Bravo.