The primary focus of this documentary is on the history of how the AIDS epidemic started in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York in 1981. Many different stories are told about people affected or surrounded by HIV and AIDS in the early years of the epidemic.

4th International AIDS Conference in Stockholm in 1988. Australian Judge Michael Kirby estimates the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and talks about the scientific discoveries so far. He reflects on the moral issues connected with AIDS and talks about stigma and civil rights.

Jonathan Mann, was a US medical doctor and influential within the World Health Organization (WHO). Here he talks about the global understanding of the disease between 1981 and 1988.