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.

Luc Montagnier talks about the complex virology of HIV which makes the AIDS vaccine development so difficult. He also talks about the economic and cultural advantages of using traditional medicine as a part of the ARV therapy in developing countries.

Opening of the Cent Gardes Conference in Annecy in 2002. Speeches by the Director of Fondation Mérieux, Alain Mérieux, and participants from other institutions working on HIV vaccines. The film maker Staffan Hildebrand holds a speech about Face of AIDS.

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.

Dr Luc Montagnier and Dr Lars Olof Kallings in Montagnier’s office and laboratory at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. They talk about the HIV virus and the difficulties and possibilities of finding effective antiretroviral drug combinatoions in the future.

Nobel Prize Laureate Luc Montagnier answers questions on the origin of HIV, the spreading of the virus, prevention, and the possibility of a vaccine.