Expression = Life: ACT UP, Video, and the AIDS Crisis

Disc one of Expression = Life presents a collection of AIDS activist videos in their entirety: Angry Initiatives, Defiant Strategies (1998), Be a Diva (1990), Like
a Prayer (1991), and Transformer AIDS (1991). Disc two offers a one-hour compilation of clips from the four films (as well as Book of James (2002) and Target: City Hall (1989)) and a panel discussion about the films. Panel speakers include former ACT UP members, documentarians, and media studies scholars.

Expression = Life works on a number of levels: the videos document AIDS activism in New York in the late 1980s to early 1990s, and exemplify citizen journalism during those years. Both the videos—and the actions they document—critique dominant AIDS discourses. The panel discussion further elucidates tensions between ACT UP and mass media, and considers the state of AIDS activism in the present.

Expression = Life is accessible to a wide audience, with the caveat that it employs graphic language in its commentary on queer culture, sexual practices, illness, death, and political indifference. It is recommended for all libraries.

Reviewed by, Alana Kumbier
Research and Instruction Librarian
Wellesley College

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