The Battle For AMFAR

Elizabeth Taylor told herself, "Bitch, do something yourself" about the lack of HIV/AIDS funding in the 1980s, so she joined with notable researcher Dr. Mathilde Krim to re-categorize the disease from a certain death sentence to one manageable (with lifelong therapy).

Their productive partnership is recounted in Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Freidman's absorbing, yet brief (40-minute) documentary "The Battle of amfAR," produced by fashion designer Kenneth Cole.

Archival news clips, which include Bryant Gumbel and Tom Brokaw talking about the new "homosexual disease" and "sex that kills," set the scene for Krim to descend "like Billie Burke, in a bubble into Munchkinland" to identify the virus and begin the search for a cure.

As a Swiss teen, Krim saw a documentary about the Holocaust, "the shock of my life," which caused her to commit herself to a career in research. Most viruses come and go, but HIV physically attaches to DNA and "becomes a part of us."

Taylor's friendship with Rock Hudson, who became the first famous face of the pandemic, brought her into the battle. The film does a vivid job of reminding viewers of Taylor's passionate, tireless and effective campaigning for AIDS research dollars, speaking to Congress and around the world, characterizing the lack of attention as "pre-meditated murder."

In 1983, activists such as ACT UP stepped in where the government failed, and communities organized, but a research gap remained. Krim and Taylor hated red tape, so they built amfAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Staffed by mostly HIV-positive people, the organization helped pass the national Ryan White Care Act. Taylor got friend Ronald Reagan to say the word "AIDS" at a public event for the first (and last) time, after telling a Congressional committee "it's not just a minority disease. It belongs to all of us." Taylor's lavender-steel eyes while delivering her urgent message are mesmerizing, and her unwavering commitment, when the cause desperately needed a public champion, inspires deep emotion and admiration, even decades later.

Infection stats are well-presented here, and continue to stagger: The CDC reported that one million Americans were HIV-positive in 1991. Four years later, AIDS was the leading cause of death for Americans aged 25-44. But in 1996, lifesaving new drugs such as protease inhibitors were introduced, partially funded by amfAR. "The Berlin Patient" Timothy Brown is the first HIV-infected person to be totally cured.

And the fight goes on, as shown in a poignant interview with POZ, and positive, magazine editor Regan Hofmann, plus clips with current celebrity spokesperson Sharon Stone (Taylor died in 2011) and others.

This essential documentary reminds audiences that someone in the US is infected with HIV every ten minutes; that an estimated 30 million have died since the pandemic began; and that 34 million are currently living with HIV and AIDS. As Taylor vociferously proclaimed, "We will not be ignored."

For festival and screening information, visit www.tellingpictures.com/films/show/the_battle_of_amfar