XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. Closing session with speeches by the Co-chairs Pedro Cahn and Luiz Enrique Soto-Ramírez., as well as the Mayor of Mexico City and the Co-Chairs of the next International AIDS Conference in Vienna in, 2010.

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.

Last part of the interview with the American AIDS activist and founder of Project Inform, Martin Delaney, in 2006. Here he talks about AIDS activism and the different stages of the antiretroviral drug development from AZT to triple combination treatment.

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.