1989·History·1h 20m
7.1
★
On the eve of 1987's Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, surviving families and friends of people who have died of AIDS prepare panels to be added to a large-scale memorial quilt project. Drawing from the sea of names memorialized, director Robert Epstein focuses on the lives of six people. Alongside the intimate profiles offered, through news footage and interviews, Epstein puts the AIDS crisis in the larger context of social and government response to the disease.
Directed by Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein
aids
hiv
lgbt
1980s
Trailer
IMDB
N/A
Where to Watch
Cast
Dustin Hoffman
Narrator (voice)
Vito Russo
Storyteller (Story Subject: Jeffrey Sevcik)
Tom Brokaw
Self - News Reporter (archive footage)
Bryant Gumbel
Self - News Reporter (archive footage)
Rock Hudson
Self (archive footage)
Cleve Jones
Self
Larry Kramer
Self (archive footage)
Andrea Mitchell
Self - News Reporter (archive footage)
Eddie Murphy
Self (archive footage)
Ronald Reagan
Self (archive footage)
Elizabeth Taylor
Self - Introduction Speaker
Crew
Jeffrey Friedman
Director
Rob Epstein
Director
Rob Epstein
Writer
Jeffrey Friedman
Writer
Bobby McFerrin
Original Music Composer
Rob Epstein
Editor
Jeffrey Friedman
Editor
Jean de Segonzac
Director of Photography
Bill Couturié
Producer
Rob Epstein
Producer
Jeffrey Friedman
Producer
Howard Rosenman
Executive Producer
Popular Reviews
13 reviews
clara
10.0★ · 05/16/26
i'm in floods of tears; it's a beautiful and important documentary, but be prepared to cry
i'm in floods of tears; it's a beautiful and important documentary, but be prepared to cry
Jonathan Snee
Hell ain't hot enough for the Reagan Administration.
Hell ain't hot enough for the Reagan Administration.
mimi
10.0★ · 02/01/26
you know how they used to say that there are some people who are too gentle to live among wolves? that was jeffrey.
watching him was like watching someone actually eat life.
the horror i feel and a fear of leaving you before you ever really know me is my greatest concern.
to me it was…of course it was still jeff…but it wasn’t. no way was…jeff….i mean, he had that little bump on his nose. that’d tell me it was jeff. and, i remember i combed his hair. ‘cause he was always doing that, you know, he used to…pull back his hair. i took a comb out of my pocket and i combed his hair and i talked to him for a little while.
hang in there, buddy, ‘cause it won’t be long before we’re together again.
sometimes i look at his picture on my desk and i think, "where the hell are you?". he's gotta be somewhere, right? and it's been almost three years now, since jeffrey died, and i still, every day, i wonder where he is. for me the quilt is where jeff is.
every one of those persons represented by a panel is a person who is loved by somebody...and that loss...that tremendous loss.
you know how they used to say that there are some people who are too gentle to live among wolves? that was jeffrey.
watching him was like watching someone actually eat life.
the horror i feel and a fear of leaving you before you ever really know me is my greatest concern.
to me it was…of course it was still jeff…but it wasn’t. no way was…jeff….i mean, he had that little bump on his nose. that’d tell me it was jeff. and, i remember i combed his hair. ‘cause he was always doing that, you know, he used to…pull back his hair. i took a comb out of my pocket and i combed his hair and i talked to him for a little while.
hang in there, buddy, ‘cause it won’t be long before we’re together again.
sometimes i look at his picture on my desk and i think, "where the hell are you?". he's gotta be somewhere, right? and it's been almost three years now, since jeffrey died, and i still, every day, i wonder where he is. for me the quilt is where jeff is.
every one of those persons represented by a panel is a person who is loved by somebody...and that loss...that tremendous loss.
Douglas Lancaster
8.9★ · 05/12/25
This broke me. I had two best friends in high school (1988-1992) who I watched die of AIDS. This really brought back those old wounds.
This broke me. I had two best friends in high school (1988-1992) who I watched die of AIDS. This really brought back those old wounds.
va24mar
8.0★ · 02/11/25
1989 | Documentary
Watching this, I switched between being absolutely overwhelmed with emotions of sadness to going mad from rage. Hearing these stories is so incredibly moving and tragic and those feelings only get amplified by the fact that they’re not unique; not just a few stories. There’s thousands of them, hundreds of thousands of them, millions of them. All over the world. And knowing that many if not most of these stories - all of which center around suffering and pain and death - were utterly avoidable, especially in the US, makes me so fucking mad and angry.
Ronald Reagan is an inescapable specter of unparalleled and unlimited evil that haunts all of us, whether it’s in queer history or in leftist/communist history or anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist history. One of the most vile creatures ever to burden humanity with its existence.
But this is a fantastic documentary. So heartfelt, heartbreaking and moving. It’s so fucking sad. And while we have made advances in terms of HIV and AIDS research and medication, homophobia, transphobia and queerphobia in general still haunt our planet and continue to impact and ruin the lives of so many people.
“I met a guy in the doctors office a couple of months ago, who told me that all his friends were dead. And it took a couple of seconds for me to sink into what I was hearing. And he was a thirty-two year old guy who said ‘I only have acquaintances now left’. And what’s even more frightening is that that’s not unique, and that you know a lot of people who have lost all their friends. And that’s an experience that I don’t think many people have in their lifetime, except during war.”
Watching this, I switched between being absolutely overwhelmed with emotions of sadness to going mad from rage. Hearing these stories is so incredibly moving and tragic and those feelings only get amplified by the fact that they’re not unique; not just a few stories. There’s thousands of them, hundreds of thousands of them, millions of them. All over the world. And knowing that many if not most of these stories - all of which center around suffering and pain and death - were utterly avoidable, especially in the US, makes me so fucking mad and angry.
Ronald Reagan is an inescapable specter of unparalleled and unlimited evil that haunts all of us, whether it’s in queer history or in leftist/communist history or anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist history. One of the most vile creatures ever to burden humanity with its existence.
But this is a fantastic documentary. So heartfelt, heartbreaking and moving. It’s so fucking sad. And while we have made advances in terms of HIV and AIDS research and medication, homophobia, transphobia and queerphobia in general still haunt our planet and continue to impact and ruin the lives of so many people.
1989 | Documentary
Watching this, I switched between being absolutely overwhelmed with emotions of sadness to going mad from rage. Hearing these stories is so incredibly moving and tragic and those feelings only get amplified by the fact that they’re not unique; not just a few stories. There’s thousands of them, hundreds of thousands of them, millions of them. All over the world. And knowing that many if not most of these stories - all of which center around suffering and pain and death - were utterly avoidable, especially in the US, makes me so fucking mad and angry.
Ronald Reagan is an inescapable specter of unparalleled and unlimited evil that haunts all of us, whether it’s in queer history or in leftist/communist history or anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist history. One of the most vile creatures ever to burden humanity with its existence.
But this is a fantastic documentary. So heartfelt, heartbreaking and moving. It’s so fucking sad. And while we have made advances in terms of HIV and AIDS research and medication, homophobia, transphobia and queerphobia in general still haunt our planet and continue to impact and ruin the lives of so many people.
“I met a guy in the doctors office a couple of months ago, who told me that all his friends were dead. And it took a couple of seconds for me to sink into what I was hearing. And he was a thirty-two year old guy who said ‘I only have acquaintances now left’. And what’s even more frightening is that that’s not unique, and that you know a lot of people who have lost all their friends. And that’s an experience that I don’t think many people have in their lifetime, except during war.”
Watching this, I switched between being absolutely overwhelmed with emotions of sadness to going mad from rage. Hearing these stories is so incredibly moving and tragic and those feelings only get amplified by the fact that they’re not unique; not just a few stories. There’s thousands of them, hundreds of thousands of them, millions of them. All over the world. And knowing that many if not most of these stories - all of which center around suffering and pain and death - were utterly avoidable, especially in the US, makes me so fucking mad and angry.
Ronald Reagan is an inescapable specter of unparalleled and unlimited evil that haunts all of us, whether it’s in queer history or in leftist/communist history or anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist history. One of the most vile creatures ever to burden humanity with its existence.
But this is a fantastic documentary. So heartfelt, heartbreaking and moving. It’s so fucking sad. And while we have made advances in terms of HIV and AIDS research and medication, homophobia, transphobia and queerphobia in general still haunt our planet and continue to impact and ruin the lives of so many people.