This film powerfully documents New York City's gay community's response to the AIDS crisis as they are forced to organize themselves after the government's failure to stem the epidemic. Activists who are interviewed include playwrite Larry Kramer, People With AIDS Coalition co-founder Michael Callen (who died of AIDS in 1994), New York filmmaker and journalist Phil Zwickler, as well as representatives from ACT-UP, Queer Nation and the Gay Men's Health Crisis.

AIDS victims and activists cope with hardship and society’s ignorance.

The AIDS epidemic in Berlin is presented in contrast with that in the United States, where horror gave way to anger and solidarity went far beyond sexual orientation and a shared experience of discrimination. This film is a radical snapshot of an unprecedented situation that turned hedonists into political activists and social workers.