France, who reported on the AIDS epidemic as a journalist in New York City during the 1980s, collected footage from the people he covered at the time, giving a snapshot of the behind-the-scenes fight for HIV/AIDS patients to be accepted by society and for the government to fast-track the approval of drugs to try and slow the fast-spreading illness that was killing thousands.
“I wanted to look back at that period … to look at the role of advocacy and activism that made it possible to survive an HIV infection,” France said. “When you go back and actually do an instant replay on the video tape, you see the tremendous and necessary role of activists in bringing about those changes and transforming the health care system that made it possible to discover a breakthrough in treating the plague.”
France added, “I think the bigger message of the film is one of those fundamentally American messages, that disenfranchised individuals with no experience can accept a desire to overcome terrible circumstances and can actually make a difference.”
Rep. Bill Cassidy has his blood drawn by Alesha Barbour during a free hepatitis screening in the Rayburn House Office Building hosted by the Congressional Viral Hepatitis Caucus to recognize "National Viral Hepatitis Testing Day."
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