Dr James Curran, mostly known for his work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the 1980's, pinpoints several key events and persons linked with the very first years of discoveries on HIV and AIDS.

XIX International AIDS Conference. The co-chair of this conference, Diane Havlir, has been working with HIV/AIDS since the early 80's at San Francisco General Hospital. Here she talks about the time of the outbreak and about the tools needed to end HIV and AIDS.

XIX International AIDS Conference. Sharon Lewin from Monash University in Melbourne discusses the possibilities of ending AIDS and scientific breakthroughs during the 30 years of the epidemic, for instance the discovery that some people are resistant to HIV.

Staffan Hildebrand looks back on his 25 years of documenting the HIV and AIDS epidemic for the Face of AIDS Film Archive. The film portrays a shift from pessimism towards a growing optimism in the response to HIV and AIDS.

XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. Jeffrey Sturchio, Vice President of Merck & Co, talks about the development of protease inhibitors in 1996 and the relationship between the activists and the drug industry.

XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. Jeffrey Sturchio, Vice President of Merck & Co, talks about the development of protease inhibitors in 1996 and the relationship between the activists and the drug industry.

M.D. Mervyn Silverman is one of the pioneers in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Here he talks about the shifts of topics on the International AIDS Conferences between 1985 and 2008, about the so called San Francisco Model of AIDS care, and about the closing of the Bathhouses.

This film tells the US story of the AIDS epidemic starting in the early 1980's. Scientists and activists, both pioneers and youths of today, talk about research, prevention, treatment and care. They also discuss stigma, homophobia and poverty as closely related to HIV and AIDS.