The Journalist David Perlman from San Francisco Chronicle was the first American journalist to report on AIDS in June 1981. He tells the story of his first article on AIDS, and how reporting on the epidemic affected him.

This film is about the global AIDS situation. The film starts in Europe and the United States and ends up in Zimbabwe and Uganda. It tells about the global disparities of drug access, but also about the successful HIV and AIDS responses of Thailand, Cambodia and Uganda.

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.