We Were Here

[Miss Philicia]

... passing this information along as it just came out in San Francisco and will at least inevitably be available on DVD if not also at smaller indie cinema screens.

http://wewereherefilm.com/

to view trailer click here

A Feature Length Documentary by David Weissman

Filmmakers David Weissman and Bill Weber co-directed the 2001 documentary, The Cockettes, chronicling San Francisco’s legendary theater troupe of hippies and drag queens, 1969 – 1972.  We Were Here revisits San Francisco a decade later, as its flourishing gay community is hit with an unimaginable disaster.

We Were Here is the first documentary to take a deep and reflective look back at the arrival and impact of AIDS in San Francisco. It explores how the City’s inhabitants were affected by, and how they responded to, that calamitous epidemic.

Though a San Francisco-based story, We Were Here extends beyond San Francisco and beyond AIDS itself. It speaks to our capacity as individuals to rise to the occasion, and to the incredible power of a community coming together with love, compassion, and determination.

Produced and directed by David Weissman
Editor/ co-director Bill Weber

[GSOgymrat]

It looks very good. I am sure it will be difficult for some people to watch.

[Joe K]

It looks very good. I am sure it will be difficult for some people to watch.

No shit. I started crying during the trailer, way too close to home.

[tednlou2]

I recently saw this trailer somewhere--maybe here on the forums.  Can't remember.  I just remember wondering when it would come here or be on TV.  It looks like a must-see.  Hopefully, it will be on the Sundance Channel or HBO. 

[leatherman]

Edfu posted about this documentary the first of last month ("We Were Here": New AIDS Documentary ) with a link to a good article about the movie. Ray (JRE) posted a link to good interview with the film-maker David Weissman.

Though it's a terrible time to talk about and very sad stories to tell, this history is one that needs to be shown and must be saved from being lost or ignored.

[Jeff G]

I watched the trailer , I also looked at the website I go to for the timeline of the aids epidemic because I cant remember the dates or what happend when even though I was there .

Some of the things I will never forget is when we were told what aids is , when we finally knew the truth . I also remember the night the local news announced HIV testing would be available the next day at the health department near where I lived . I got tested the first day possible and it was positive but I already knew it .

Back then there was no one to tell , no shoulder to cry on and no treatment .

Thank you Miss P . for posting this I have not heard of it .

[anniebc]

It was the early 80's when I saw my first Aids patient, I walked onto the ward and saw a sign outside one of the rooms..gloves, masks and gown to be worn in this room, this patient is to be barrier nursed, I remember how awful it was for the young nurses and for the patients alike, all we knew about this decease was it was incurable and it was killing those who had it, our patients were coming into hospital to die.

I also remember thinking how can we possibly treat and console these patients if we can't physically touch them, but the precautions we took as young nurses were bred out of ignorance and fear, we didn't know any better.

I have just finished reading a book called "If I should die" by Tom McLean, in one chapter he wrote this:

Isolation, they write it in large letters on my door, Gloves, masks and gowns must be worn, and they cower behind the sign, the masked women enter my room, they turn on the overhead light to see me better, and they ask me "does it hurt" I couldn't help but wonder-did they mean the virus or the masks.

Then one day the pardon comes through my guards relent, the isolation sign comes down and I burst from my room to infect the ward with a plague of joy.

I remember the day they took the signs down in the hospital I worked in and my first though was ..thank God, now we can start caring for these patients, and treating them the same as every other patient we had, but sadly during the time we had to barrier nurse them we lost a few nurses, they simply couldn't cope with the barrier nursing or the death, it was a sad time for all who were involved during those early days.

Aroha
Jan

[woodshere]

Regardless of who posted this and when, it bears posting again and again and when the thread drops out of sight it should be bumped.  

It doesn't sound right I know, but I am anxious to see this.  It looks like it will be an excellent telling of the beginning.

[Jody]

Thanks for posting this Philly, it looks like a must see.  And Jan, your recollection of your experiences is very touching indeed, you were on the front lines, we were really all confused, I believe back in the prehistoric days of AIDS.  So many mixed signals, rumors, scientific theories, and all the while our friends dying.  First a friend of a friend or someone who knew someone and you thought- Never me!  But then more and more deaths and the realization that this was big, and horrible as it was big, a sickness, an epidemic, later a plague, that term disturbing to some, a reality for too many others.     

Jody

[sharkdiver]

Saw it closing night at the Castro Theatre last Thursday.

    It was put together very well. It was an honest, touching and compassionate look at different people experiences during the beginning of the epidemic in the Castro.
 
   Shark
   

[pozoz]

I think I got the title of this book here somewhere, but I've just finished reading And the Band Played On (Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic) by Randy Shilts.

I'm sure many of you have read it.

During this time (early 80's) I was a newly enlisted US Army recruit with a sense of patriotism and duty, thought Reagan was a good man....now I know better.....

He didn't care about HIV/AIDS, nor did many in his administration.

This book sure opened my eyes to how the US government (doesn't) work. Highly recommended reading for anyone POS.

It sounds like this movie and book are based on the same timeframes.

Peace....

[J.R.E.]

I recently saw this trailer somewhere--maybe here on the forums.  Can't remember. 

Yes,  Edfu made mention of it a couple of pages ago:


http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=36462.0


Ray

[J.R.E.]

Here's an interview with David Weissman:


http://moviecitynews.com/2011/01/dp30-sundance-we-were-here-david-weissman/


Ray

[J.R.E.]

I scrolled too fast, and managed to pass up  leatherman's post, regarding Edfu mention of this. I realized this after I posted.  Anyway, it's a must see !  

Ray

[wolfter]

An entire array of emotions came flooding back.  My first remembrance of AIDS was listening to Reverend Lynn in our local Baptist Church explaining to his sheep that this was a blessing sent by god to punish those queers.  I vividly remember the pleasure of how my own family relished this sermon and blindly conceded that this was true.  I still think to this day that part of my revealing to my mother was a warped sense of deviance.

[woodshere]

I think I got the title of this book here somewhere, but I've just finished reading And the Band Played On (Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic) by Randy Shilts.

A must read!! I think every person who tests positive should be required to read this book. Knowing the history might provide a different perspective to those newly infected.

[pozniceguy]

I can say that as late as 1994  there were still serious misconceptions about the virus by some medical staff... when I was in hospital the floor nurse put the "RED"  sticker on the door that means  Highly infectious...My Dr was furious and  completely out of character when he called out the head Nurse in the Hallway and told her to take that down  and insisted that the Hospital administrator hold a "training session"  for the staff..   

that clip  brought many very sad memories of those days

Nick

[Jeffreyj]

This documentary is going to be a tear jerk-er for so many of us. It is such an important film.

After reading your post Nick, it reminded me of my most painful DR appoint I ever had. My regular DR. was on vacation, there were few HIV specialists in Orange County, CA, at the time. (1986 )

I was waiting for the replacement Dr to enter the room. He looked more like Niel Armstrong on the moon.
He was wearing a glass hemlet thing, gloves, booties. I had never been so hurt in my life. I felt shame, anger...I just ran out of the office. My wife was with me, I cried all the way home. This was one of the most difficult things I had experienced in my life up to that point.

[sharkdiver]

This documentary is going to be a tear jerk-er for so many of us. It is such an important film.

After reading your post Nick, it reminded me of my most painful DR appoint I ever had. My regular DR. was on vacation, there were few HIV specialists in Orange County, CA, at the time. (1986 )

I was waiting for the replacement Dr to enter the room. He looked more like Niel Armstrong on the moon.
He was wearing a glass hemlet thing, gloves, booties. I had never been so hurt in my life. I felt shame, anger...I just ran out of the office. My wife was with me, I cried all the way home. This was one of the most difficult things I had experienced in my life up to that point.

for me it wasn't really a tear-jerker. I think that was because I understood what the people interviewed were going through. I felt reassured, I guess because it was real and not some manipulative story.  At the end of the show last week the people who were interviewed in the film came out on stage to a standing ovation and the answered questions. It was a beautiful evening.

[edfu]

Hey, no wonder my ears were burning!  Thanks, guys, for the mention. 

To add to the coincidences:  The proudest event of my editing career was to have published Randy Shilts's And the Band Played On in paperback and to have worked with him on new material added for that edition.  The stories he told me that were not included....

[Miss Philicia]

Updates on screenings of this movie:

http://wewereherefilm.com/screenings/

Toronto, Miami, Winston-Salem, DC, Oregon, London

[woodshere]

I haven't seen anything about the wide release of the film,  has that been announced?

[Miss Philicia]

I haven't seen anything about the wide release of the film,  has that been announced?

No.  But I'm following the information on facebook and you may wish to as well.  Or alternatively on twitter.  So far it's just hitting the film festivals, and indeed it might just go from there straight to DVD.

Philadelphia's Q-Fest is the first half of July and this film hasn't been announced yet.

[Almost2late]

There is a warning suggesting that a new topic be opened due to the age of this thread but I believe these type of threads should be the exception.

Last night I saw "How to survive a plague" which was IMO a must see for anyone and tonight I just got finished watching "We Were Here" also a must see for all.

These films are educational and a very important part of our history.. If it was up to me I'd show them everywhere from high schools to senior homes and everywhere in between.. These lives lost will not have been in vain.

[Ptrk3]

FYI: "How to Survive a Plague" and "We Were Here" are both currently available on Netflix instant streaming.

[Almost2late]

FYI: "How to Survive a Plague" and "We Were Here" are both currently available on Netflix instant streaming.

That's where I saw them 

[drewm]

This is one of the most enlightening threads I have read on here in sometime. Thanks to everyone for sharing.