Educational Media Reviews Online

This passionate documentary follows the birth of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR). Historical clips and interviews are coupled with Jeff Beal’s stirring score to create a dramatic telling of the emerging HIV/AIDS epidemic and the collaboration of activists, celebrities, and scientists to combat the virus in a hostile environment of apathy, hysteria, and ignorance.

As a teenager, Dr. Mathilde Krim learned of Americans liberating prisoners from Nazi concentration camps. The experience drove Krim to become a research scientist, pursuing truth and saving human lives. In 1983, when the AIDS epidemic began taking the lives of Americans, Dr. Krim was quickly mobilized to investigate the mysterious disease. At first, Krim funded her project, then called the AIDS Medical Foundation, with her own money. As AIDS began to affect more people, it touched Elizabeth Taylor through her friend Rock Hudson. With the combined efforts of Krim, Taylor, and others, the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR) was born in 1985, and in 1990, the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act was authorized.

The human spirit shines throughout the documentary. “Most people start with this idea that they can’t do anything,” says Dr. Krim at the end of the film. “It’s not true. Everybody can do something.”

It can be easy to forget how many people must be involved with finding the solutions to health crises. The Battle of amfAR reminds us of the collaborations necessary to make large social changes and the importance of funding scientific research. This work is recommended for people interested in human health, politics, and history, as well as a general audience.

Awards

• Reeling, The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival