The first major film, either televised or theatrical, to deal with the AIDS epidemic, Frost stars Aidan Quinn as a gay man who returns home to break the news to his family that he is living with HIV. It was watched by over 34 million people, garnered 14 Emmy nominations and won 3.
Two young gay men meet at a sex club in the first 20 minutes of Paris 05:59, which is an extremely explicit French film about a one-night stand. One of the two is living with HIV and their encounter leads them both to go to the hospital to pick up post-exposure prophylaxis together.
Though most people know David France’s How to Survive a Plague, 2012 saw several films about ACT UP come out and this one, directed by ACT UP members Sarah Schulman and Jim Hubbard, shows the mechanics behind orchestrating some of the group’s biggest demonstrations.
A genius lyricist, Howard Ashman was behind acclaimed works like Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Little Shop of Horrors. In Howard, he becomes the subject, and the director tracks not only Ashman's success but how that was impacted by complicatons related to HIV and AIDS.