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. Dr Daria Hazuda from MSD, who has been involved in antiretroviral drug development during the past 20 years, holds a presentation. She is also interviewed about leadership and the progress of ARV and vaccine development.

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.

French virologist and Nobel Prize winner Luc Montagnier reflects on the discovery of HIV, discusses disappointments and lessons learned along the way and the possibility of a vaccine, and gives advice for future AIDS researchers.

Annual HIV research conference arranged by IHV. Dr Robert Gallo holds a lecture on the history of medical research on human retroviruses. He also talks about the early discoveries of t-cell leukemia in Japanese patients, which led to the discovery of HTLV-1.

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.