This production was made as the opening film for the IV International AIDS Conference in Stockholm in June 1988. It gives a broad representation of the global AIDS situation in the late 1980's, and has a particular focus on social structures, poverty and stigma.

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.

An unknown Swedish doctor talks about Socialmedicinska Häktesprojektet, a new program to localize HIV in IV-drug users.

Interview with the Italian Catholic priest Guiseppe Brunetta. He talks in English and Italian about prostitution and AIDS in Milan, and discusses contraceptives and the situation for young people in Italy. He also talks about the future concerning Europe and AIDS.

Paulo Cofforino, Professor in Ethics in the University of Milan and member of National AIDS Committee of the Italian Ministry of Health, talks about AIDS in connection with ethics regarding the patients. Location shots: University of Milan

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.

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.

Interview with the French doctor Didier Jayle talks about his work informing students in schools about how HIV is spread and how it can be prevented. He is also asked how dealing with AIDS in his work affects his personal life.

Dr Didier Jayle talks about AIDS awareness, the importance of reaching out to young people, and how his work with AIDS patients affects him as a doctor and as a human being.

"AIDS – Metaphor and Reality" is the very first Face of AIDS documentary from 1986, experts as well as people living with HIV and AIDS speak about stigma. The main message of this film is that AIDS is a worldwide issue which concerns everyone regardless of their sexual preferences.