In a desperate effort to save their own lives, an improbable group of mostly HIV-positive young men and women broke the mould as radical warriors to take on Washington and the medical establishment.

With unfettered access to a treasure trove of never-before-seen archival footage from the 1980s and '90s, Oscar-nominated filmmaker David France puts the viewer smack in the middle of the controversial actions, the heated meetings, the heartbreaking failures, and the exultant breakthroughs of heroes in the making.

Blisteringly powerful, How to Survive a Plague transports us back to a vital time of unbridled death, political indifference and staggering resilience, and constructs a commanding archetype for activism today.