Though the filmmakers were unable to attend the screening, their film brought a large crowd and sparked discussion on awareness and activism
Despite the frigid Athens weather Monday night, the line for Jim Hubbard and Sarah Schulman’s documentary, United in Anger: A History of ACT UP,quickly filled the first floor lobby and stretched outside to the sidewalk in front of Athena Cinema.
The theater was packed for the screening, which was originally supposed to be followed by a discussion session with the filmmakers. However, the large amount of snow happening in the northeast prevented Schulman and Hubbard from leaving New York.
This didn’t prevent the discussion from taking place, however – Delfin Bautista, the director of the LGBT center, and Susan Burgess, professor of political science, took the lead.
Bautista was excited that so many people attended the event because “it gave a face to an era that isn’t normally talked about.”
“I hope that it raised awareness of AIDS and activist history,” Bautista said. “And hopefully it inspires people to take (their ideas) to the streets because if you own your voice, it can really pack a wallop.”
The film featured clips from demonstrations from the organization ACT UP, which advocates for medical research, changes in legislation and better treatment for those with AIDS. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, ACT UP held protests all over the country. The film also included interviews with leaders and members of the organization.
Laughter filled the packed auditorium when an ACT UP member approached an airport billboard, which featured a man lying on his stomach, and stuck an AIDS awareness sticker to the model’s buttocks. Silence blanketed the crowd when the film showed protestors leaning over the White House gate and sprinkling ashes of their loved ones, who lost the battle against AIDS, all over the lawn.
Golnar Touski, a first-year interdisciplinary arts doctoral student, said she thought the most effective aspect of Hubbard and Schulman’s documentary was the fact it was multifaceted.
“The whole idea of resistance is just brilliant,” Touski said. “It doesn’t only speak to people with AIDS and gay and lesbian communities, but it also encourages issues with minorities.”
The inclusion of minorities in the mission of ACT UP was praised across the room in the discussion portion of the event. The crowd raised other topics as well, such as the place of irreverence and humor in activism.
To freshman and creative writing major Sasha Gough, the most impressionable aspect of the film wasn’t the power of ACT UP, but rather the power of opposing forces.
“The thing that stood out to me the most was the police brutality,” she said. “They were forceful, pushing (protestors) around and dragging them on the ground. (The police) didn’t even seem to care.”
An event at the Women’s Center that was supposed to take place Tuesday morning with Schulman will also be canceled due to inclement weather.
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