Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

menzkm Kate Menz Riggs/Welte Humanities II 5 March 2016 We Were Here ReviewThis documentary has powerful insight about LGBT rights and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It is a very heart touching documentary of four gay men who lived and survived through the entire HIV/AIDS epidemic and are here now to share not only their stories, but all of their friends' and families' that died from this horrible, extravagant disease. In the 1970's, San Francisco was the place all gay men wanted to go. There were streets dedicated to them such as Castro Street and gay sex was highly encouraged, it was a place for gay people to really live, and these four men and directors, David Weissman and Bill Weber give a phenomenal look on what it was really like. When the "disease that hit the gays" hit San Francisco it hit hard. The four men will say "people dropped like flies," and the depth and detail their stories provide people with a true visual of the catastrophe. One step at a time, the sense of community grows larger and larger in not only the gay people that were getting sick, but the thousands of volunteers spending their time to help them. This film gives you a real perspective of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and really how the LGBT community was affected by it. We Were Here will offer the true inside look on the AIDS epidemic.

fleckmo-467-391609 As I listened to this small group of people talk about their experiences through the AIDS crisis in San Francisco, and I watched the images flow by, I was distraught, reflective, amused, angry, inspired and always in rapt attention.I moved to SF when I was 22 in 1984. I remember the B.A.R. obituaries. Seeing the sometimes shockingly short lifespans was sad, but you also read beautiful passages written by survivors to affirm and celebrate their friends' lives, and not just mourn their deaths.Spoiler Alert! What I love about this movie is what's brought home by one of the narrators at the end: The title of the movie, "We Were Here", refers to all of us who were here during that time - the living and the dead, who are still missed.

JvH48 I saw this film as part of the Ghent filmfestival 2011. At the time of this story (the 80's) the AIDS epidemic was something we read about in newspapers and magazines, at a safe distance so to speak. What I remember most was the long time it took before the underlying causes became clear. There were several theories at first, because no one could find a common denominator for two target groups that suffered most: hard drugs addicts and homosexuals. Nowadays, it is easy for us to see the connection as being obvious.What we easily overlooked at that time was the impact it had on people that were hit, in combination with the hopelessness of their situation in the absence of a cure. Two quotes I can't wipe from my mind: [1] "Can't go on like this" at a moment that many friends and acquaintances died, without any effective remedy in sight. And quote [2] "Don't want to come out of this war like my father came out of the war he fought in", as if wondering how the world would be after this bad interval was over, and whether residual trauma's were to be expected. Not only quotes like these, but also the honest stories told by survivors that were interviewed, certainly left an impression on us.All in all, I could do nothing more than giving the maximum score (5 out of 5) for the audience award when leaving the theater. We saw a very comprehensive overview of how people (re)acted on the disease, presented by all sorts of people involved. It also makes us think about possible new diseases that may befall on us. For example bird flu (H5N1) springs to mind, due to a recent publication about related work in Rotterdam (NL). While imagining that such a virus breaks loose, either this one or a new one for that matter, it is difficult to suppress post-apocalyptic visions about what may happen.

vacaville-shane An amazing work. I just saw this with a friend who was too young to really remember what was going on in the late 80's and 90's. We both cried throughout the film, a good thing. It was a healing response for me, having lost too many friends and acquaintances. I am plenty grateful for this opportunity to hear the "survivors'" share in hindsight with such clarity. I knew what was going on in San Francisco proper through others' experiences, but nothing nearly as comprehensive as this film. My experience was in the military and my friends' being sent home when they tested positive ('86-'88), which was a death sentence at that time and then in the Montrose in Houston after the military. Thank you so very much for making this difficult but vital film. It will stand as a powerful reminder of what was and teach generations to come.