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.

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.

Interview with George Louis, Professor and Director at the division of Vaccine and Research at the Initiative of Human Virology (IHV) in Baltimore. He talks about the current HIV vaccine trials and reflects on the future.

Interview with Pathologist Christian Isichei, founder of the Faith Alive Hospital in Jos in Nigeria. He talks about the drug industry and access to ARV treatment in Africa and his experiences from the annual conference at the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) in Baltimore.

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.