Estávamos Aqui

I was 18 years old when I went to Greenwich Village in 1985 to attend school at NYU. Before that, I had never been acquainted with the gay community and only knew closeted and frustrated gay people. My eyes were opened when I got there, in a wonderful way. But AIDS had beat me there and I remember the profound fear and controversy that was unfolding at the time.

This movie made me think of those days like I hadn't for years. It is an incredible, moving story which shows how much of a Holocaust the epidemic was. It is heartbreaking and poignant, with personal stories and compassion shown by the individuals involved which are heroic and inspiring.

I found this movie to be an important contribution to a period of American History that musn't be forgotten. I found myself shocked all over again by how widespread and devastating the epidemic was, how it was ignored and feared by a homophobic nation. I wonder how different our world might be today if we hadn't lost so many wonderful, creative young people to this plague?

AIDS survival has come a long way, but the disease is not gone. People really should rent this movie, it's like lighting a memorial candle of sorts. You will remember someone who is gone that touched your life in a special way.

This U.S. documentary chronicles the severe effect of AIDS on San Francisco 's gay community from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.

The main structure of this film is interviews with four gay men and a lesbian who lived in San Francisco during the tumultuous period. One of the interviewees is HIV positive. All interviewees are very likeable and eloquent. There are moments of fighting back tears while recalling sad times. These moments were very genuine and did not seem manipulative by the filmmakers.

The recollections begin in the 1970s when sexual liberation brought many gay people to San Francisco . It continues with the disease of AIDS when its causes were unknown, the onslaught of illnesses and deaths, the changes within the community along with the prejudices of the extreme right, and a new activism followed by drug cocktails that could prolong lives of those living with HIV.

This documentary is blessed with great footage. There were several photographs and archived film footage of the past including those of the interviewees at much younger ages. This footage also included details of skin lesions and extreme thinness of AIDS patients before they died. A before-and-after image of a man who was vibrant and muscular before the disease is shocking as is a San Francisco magazine that listed several pages of photographs of those who died of AIDS in one particular year in the 1980s.

The film is not all grim despite its content. The interviewees show lightness and humour when appropriate. While the occurrence of AIDS deaths has significantly decreased since the 1990s, this film is a solid reminder of a very dark period in recent history. The bad memories return quickly. - dbamateurcritic

Beautiful documentary gamely attempts to tread through the chaotic AIDS crisis of the 1980s using only a handful of survivors as commentators. Co-directors David Weissman and Bill Weber pull it off, however, and "We Were Here" is surprisingly absorbing and moving as a result. The celebration of sexual freedom for homosexual men in the 1970s ground to a halt at the end of the decade by what was initially being referred to on the street as the Gay Cancer. These wonderful men who survived to tell their individual, intimate stories are marvelous to listen to, painting a portrait of an era that was, by turns, frightening and challenging, yet one that brought out a number of true heroes. ***1/2 from ****

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.

Kate Menz Riggs/Welte Humanities II 5 March 2016 We Were Here Review

This 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.