Les années sida

Since the first reported cases in 1981, it is estimated that more than 25 million people have died as a result of AIDS. Before it was officially named, this disease was referred to as the "gay plague" or "gay leprosy," labels that immediately stigmatized those unfortunate enough to contract it. This "community of outcasts," composed of ostracized individuals, was reduced to the grim designation of "at-risk groups," a term still sadly used at times. What no one anticipated was that these very individuals—those condemned to shame and isolation—would organize a collective movement of unprecedented scale, raising their voices to demand dignified care and recognition.

AIDS disrupted not only the social order but also the world of art. It claimed the lives of countless artists, depriving us of thousands of works, while art itself became a powerful tool of resistance for those affected and their allies. This was particularly true for documentary practices. As early as the 1980s, many artists used their craft to document the crisis at its height, while others—patients themselves—took up cameras in a subversive act of self-representation. By doing so, they often challenged and redefined artistic disciplines, paving the way for new possibilities for future generations.

After a noticeable lull in cultural production on AIDS in the late 1990s—marked by nearly two decades of silence—the subject has seen a resurgence in recent years. Rediscovered by younger generations, AIDS has once again become a focal point in film, a subject of abundant new literature, and a feature of visual art exhibitions. With this selection, however, we invite viewers to return to the early years of the AIDS crisis. The three chosen films, all released in the early 1990s, predate the advent of antiretroviral therapy in 1996, which significantly slowed the epidemic and extended the lives of those infected. Yet, the AIDS crisis is far from over. While treatments exist, limited access to them continues to claim the lives of tens of thousands of people living with HIV each year.

These documentaries, through both their content and the unique perspectives of the filmmakers who created them, provide invaluable testimony to an episode that has curiously remained absent from major historical narratives of the 20th century—a chapter whose historical significance we are only now beginning to grasp.

Alex Noël
Author and literature professor