Schweigen = Tod, Aktion = Leben

Die-ins, street actions, boycotts, a takeover of the cathedral - starting in the late 1980s, during the peak of the AIDS crisis, a new group called ACT UP shook up AIDS politics. Their actions expressed anger over exclusion and discrimination, as well as inaction and ignorance. Not just about us, but with us - people with HIV and AIDS wanted to finally raise their voices and be actively involved.

Founded in New York in 1987, numerous ACT UP groups also emerged in Germany starting in 1989. How and for what reasons did ACT UP come into existence? What were the key actions and forms of activism? Why did ACT UP come to an end after just a few years?

Ulrich Würdemann, who was an ACT UP activist at the time, reflects on a piece of German AIDS history and explores whether ACT UP is now a myth and relic of the past, or if it still has something to teach us today.