An Ode to 80s AIDS Activism
Photo: Memento Films
“Beats Per Minute” is a vivid, deeply felt portrait of the ACT UP-Paris movement in the early 1990s, and the brave young men and women who struggled to make the AIDS epidemic visible to the wider public. The film is France’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars this year, and the movie was also a close contestant to win the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
In Paris in the early 1990s, a group of activists goes to battle for those stricken with HIV/AIDS, taking on sluggish government agencies and major pharmaceutical companies in bold, invasive actions. The organization is ACT UP, and its members, many of them gay and HIV-positive, embrace their mission with a real life-or-death urgency. Amid rallies, protests, fierce debates and ecstatic dance parties, the newcomer Nathan falls in love with Sean, the group’s radical firebrand, and their passion sparks against the shadow of mortality as the activists fight for a breakthrough.
Opening November 17 at Midtown Art Cinema
Attend a Special “Beats Per Minute” Screening
Out On Film, Georgia Equality and AID Atlanta present an early screening of “Beats Per Minute”. Following the film will be a talkback with some former Atlanta ACT-UP members – including Georgia Equality’s Jeff Graham – discussing the significance of ACT UP and how we can take some of the lessons of ACT UP and use them towards mobilizing and facing the challenges of today.
When: November 16, 2017, 7:00 pm
Where: Landmark Midtown Art Cinema, 931 Monroe Dr. NE, Atlanta, GA 30308
How: Tickets ($11) at Landmarktheatres.com
