December 1st is World AIDS Day, a time for people everywhere to break out their red ribbons and show support for the fight to end this deadly disease.
The world has come a long way since HIV/AIDS cases were first reported in 1981 (35% fewer new infections since 2000, for starters). But for the nearly 40 million people worldwide who live with HIV—and the millions more at risk of infection—the fight is far from over.
Consider World AIDS Day your annual reminder that the fight against AIDS is well worth supporting. Need a little inspiration to get your inner AIDS advocate going? Look no further than these five films. From star-studded features to award-winning documentaries, these films put a cinematic spin on one of humanity’s greatest viral threats.
1/ Philadelphia (1993)
Director: Jonathan Demme | Where to watch: Amazon / Google Play
Tom Hanks has been one of my all-time favorite actors ever since I saw Toy Story as a kid, but with all due respect to Woody the toy cowboy, Hanks' Oscar-winning portrayal of AIDS victim Andrew Beckett might just be his signature role. A courtroom drama inspired by true events, Philadelphia tells the story of how Beckett, a Philadelphia lawyer, takes his former firm to court when he is fired days after his colleagues discover he has AIDS. This film serves as a challenging—and very necessary—reminder of the fear, misconceptions, and outright homophobia many HIV/AIDS victims faced in the disease's early days.
2/ Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée | Where to watch: iTunes / Cinemax
Another AIDS-related film with Oscar-winning acting, Dallas Buyers Club stars Matthew McConaughey as Ron Woodroof, a rough-and-tumble cowboy type who contracts HIV in the mid-1980s, back when the disease was poorly understood and the only available treatments were experimental. After initially refusing to accept his diagnosis, fearing rejection from his close-minded friends, Woodroof scrambles to find a treatment, no matter how risky, that might prolong his life. When an unlikely partnership with fellow HIV patient Rayon (a trans woman memorably played by Jared Leto) leads Woodroof to form a profitable, lifesaving, and mostly illegal buyers club for unregulated AIDS remedies, Woodroof's entrepreneurial savvy takes a turn for the heroic. Dallas Buyers Club presents a bittersweet portrait of determination and friendship in the face of an epidemic.
3/ Rent (2005)
Director: Chris Columbus | Where to watch: YouTube / Amazon
Directed by Chris Columbus (also known as the guy who helmed the first two Harry Potters), Rent is an adaptation of an adaptation—the film version of a Broadway musical inspired by 19th century Italian opera "La bohème." Set in New York City circa 1990, this film features a group of friends trying to find their way in the Big Apple amid big-city struggles both mundane (paying the rent, finding work) and sinister (the growing AIDS epidemic). Although it brings a song-and-dance treatment to the topic of AIDS, Rent is no less sincere than films like Philadelphia in its attempts to unpack and portray the complex emotions, from grief to joy, associated with living through an AIDS crisis.
4/ How to Survive a Plague (2012)
Director: David France | Where to watch: YouTube / Amazon / Google Play
This Oscar-nominated documentary also cracked my recent list of must-watch films about health. I won't bother repeating myself by singing the praises of this remarkable film, other than to say that you aren't likely to find a more poignantly composed historical take on the emergence of HIV/AIDS in the United States.
5/ The Carrier (2011)
Director: Maggie Betts | Where to watch: iTunes / Amazon
Hollywood has historically been a bit preoccupied with the American angle on AIDS, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t include a film representing a very different perspective on this global crisis. The Carrier is an on-the-ground account of how one family in a community in rural Zimbabwe copes with the virus. Beautifully shot and thoughtfully edited, this is the kind of documentary I love most: one that manages to tell an intimate, character-driven story about a topic with global implications. You hear a lot about how governments and NGOs are responding to AIDS—now see how some of those interventions take shape at ground level and impact the lives of actual families.
I'm sure I've left several great films off this list. Help make up for my shortcomings—add your favorite films about HIV/AIDS in the comments section or on Facebook!