Movies Similar to Those People: AIDS in the Public Mind

Life of Crime 2(1998)

This follow-up to the 1989 documentary ONE YEAR IN A LIFE OF CRIME revisits three of the original subjects in New Jersey during a five-year period in the 1990s. We share in their triumphs and setbacks as they navigate lives of poverty, drug abuse, AIDS, and petty crime.

7.0

Drawing the Line: A Portrait of Keith Haring(1989)

Short documentary about artist Keith Haring, detailing his involvement in the New York City graffiti subculture, his opening of the Pop Shop, and the social commentary present in his paintings and drawings.

7.0

Baldiga: Unlocked Heart(2024)

Using diary excerpts, photographs and memories from companions, the film paints the portrait of the artist Jürgen Baldiga who sensitively and authentically captured the West Berlin queer scene of the 1980s and early 1990s with his camera.

0.0

Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution(2023)

From the sweaty basement bars of 70s New York to the glittering peak of the global charts, how disco conquered the world - its origins, its triumphs, its fall and its legacy.

8.0

HIV=AIDS: Fact or Fraud?(1996)

One of the most powerful video documentaries of our time boldly reveals the modern medical-industrial complex’s dire descent into utter corruption. HIV/AID$ - A deadly and dangerous DECEPTION! This feature-length expose explains exactly how the 300-Billion-dollar AID$ fraud began, why HIV can NOT be the cause of AIDS, what the real causes could be, and who manipulates the public’s good intentions while poisoning hundreds of thousands with toxic drugs that cause the very disease they are supposed to prevent.

0.0

Please Hold(2025)

An experimental documentary engaging with decades of DIY activist media, two death bed/legacy videos, and the wisdom of many living AIDS workers, as we all sit together in one (changing) format, video—VHS, hi-8, digital, Zoom—to address these and other questions: How do neighborhoods, sweaters and scarves, videotapes and queer bars hold ghosts? How do we let them go?

0.0

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AIDS: What Everyone Needs to Know(1985)

The film provides information about the course and symptoms of AIDS, the effect of AIDS viruses on the immune system, the routes of infection, the main risks of infection and the protective measures against them.

0.0

Reframing AIDS(1987)

Through a series of interviews with leading British AIDS activists and cultural theorists, this documentary investigates the way in which AIDS has been used by the media and by the government to increase state harassment of gay men and lesbians, black people and women. Framing the problem in terms of a left politic, the tape reveals how both homophobia and puritanism have been responsible for the slow government response to AIDS.

0.0

Cazuza: Good News(2025)

It explores the last two years of Brazilian singer Cazuza's life, from his AIDS diagnosis until his death. Nilo Romero, Cazuza's music producer and the film's director, created a collection of rarely seen and controversial images.

7.4

Freddie Mercury: The Final Act(2022)

The story of the extraordinary final chapter of Freddie Mercury’s life and how, after his death from AIDS, Queen staged one of the biggest concerts in history, the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium, to celebrate his life and challenge the prejudices around HIV/AIDS. For the first time, Freddie's story is told alongside the experiences of those who tested positive for HIV and lost loved ones during the same period. Medical practitioners, survivors, and human rights campaigners recount the intensity of living through the AIDS pandemic and the moral panic it brought about.

6.7

Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool(1994)

A musical documentary accompaniment to the 1994 benefit compilation album concerning AIDS in the African-American community.

0.0

Beat Goes On(2019)

Beat Goes On is an impressionistic portrait of the activist Keith Cylar (1958–2004), co-founder of Housing Works and a central figure in the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT UP) NY. Cylar spoke clearly, frequently and with moral force about the struggles of people living with HIV/AIDS in New York City, many of whom were impoverished and struggling with multiple social and medical problems. His openness about his own drug use and the centrality of the fight against the criminalization of drugs for AIDS activism make Cylar's legacy especially resonant and relevant at this time. Commissioned by Visual AIDS in 2019 as part of STILL BEGINNING, a program of seven short videos responding to the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic.

0.0

Masaka Kids, A Rhythm Within(2025)

The story behind the Uganda-based YouTube dance sensations who have endured devastating personal loss from famine and war, and use the power of dance and song to overcome hardship.

8.5

Then and Now: 1981-2004(2004)

A short film mostly comprised of two sources: research footage from 1988 about the beginnings of the HIV epidemic from the perspective of medical professionals, and an interview with Cleve Jones in 2003 as he looks back upon his activism, and the state of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the early 2000s.

0.0

Think About the Beautiful Future Ahead(2018)

Historically, the queer community has not been portrayed in mainstream culture as being capable of protecting children and young people. Yet my uncle Ricardo, himself an openly gay man, was the ultimate guardian of my childhood.

0.0

Wojnarowicz: Fuck You Faggot Fucker(2020)

A collage-like, incisive look at the life of writer, painter and thinker David Wojnarowicz, whose powerful, unapologetic way of seeing the world gave voice to queer rights at a critical time in US history.

7.2

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Sensaciones - La historia del Sida en la Argentina(2007)

Fictionalized documentary about the history of HIV/AIDS in Argentina from its inception up until 2006.

0.0

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A Time of Change: Confronting AIDS(1986)

Seminal documentary featuring interviews conducted with early AIDS patients at San Francisco General Hospital's wards 67 and 5B in 1983. Friends, family, health care workers, and caregivers contribute to the narrative as a generation of brave, young men face a terrifying disease with grace, humor, and dignity.

0.0

Howard(2018)

Though legendary lyricist Howard Ashman died far too young, his impact on Broadway, movies, and the culture at large were incalculable. Told entirely through rare archival footage and interviews with Ashman’s family, friends, associates, and longtime partner Bill Lauch, Howard is an intimate tribute to a once-in-a-generation talent and a rousing celebration of musical storytelling itself.

6.8

40 Jahre Aids - Schweigen = Tod(2021)

This is the story of death and survival, exclusion and hope told by those who lived through it. 40 years ago an HIV infection seemed like a death sentence.

8.0