‘United in Anger’ screening April 25

Event features documentary about AIDS organization ACT UP, discussion with director

The origin of AIDS and HIV has puzzled scientists ever since the illness came to light in the early 1980s. Following the discovery of the epidemic, activists hit the ground running, educating the world about preventing the spread of the disease and pursuing more effective treatments. In the decades since, they have also worked to dispel the myths associated with the AIDS epidemic.

The documentary United in Anger: A History of ACT UP combines archival footage that puts the audience on the ground alongside activists as they plan and execute actions including Seize Control of the FDA, Stop the Church and Day of Desperation, and other activities that have brought worldwide attention to the AIDS crisis. The film will be shown at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 25, in Rochester Institute of Technology’s Liberal Arts Hall, room A205. A discussion with the film’s director, Jim Hubbard, immediately follows. The screening—free and open to the RIT and Rochester communities—will be captioned. Sign-language interpreters will be provided.

Tamar Carroll, assistant professor of history in RIT’s College of Liberal Arts, is an expert in the history of social movements and helped coordinate the event.

United in Anger embodies the spirit of ACT UP meetings, with many voices contributing to the strength of the whole,” Carroll says. “The film excels in its depiction of ACT UP’s diverse membership and the ways in which women and people of color in particular brought a broader lens to understandings of the social and political contexts of the epidemic. This film promises to generate thought-provoking discussions on recent U.S. history, the history of sexuality, queer studies, the history of medicine, social movements and documentary filmmaking.”

For more information, contact Carroll at twcgsh@rit.edu or go to the United in Anger website.


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