In general, they shot on Hi-8 and edited their tapes for little or no money at public access media arts centers, AIDS organizations, schools and, late at night, at commercial facilities.įrom 1981, when the syndrome was first recognized, until 1985, when Rock Hudson died, AIDS received scant attention from the mainstream media. Like their predecessors, AIDS activists continued the practice of using whatever tools were available to convey their message. Its antecedents include the work of Dziga Vertov, the New American Cinema, the portapak tapes made by such groups as TVTV and Videofreex, feminist documentaries of the sixties and seventies and the political filmmaking collective Newsreel. AIDS activist video is a direct descendant of a rich and varied tradition of alternative cinema.
