No Sad Songs (1985)

Directed by

Nik Sheehan

Genre

documentary film, LGBTQ-related film

Country

Canada

Runtime

1h 03m

Rating

3.8 of 10 from 4 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary focuses on the early response to the HIV/AIDS crisis within the LGBT community. It follows the personal testimony of Jim Black, a man with AIDS, and others affected by the disease.

poignantintimatesoberingpersonalreflectivegroundedrawcompassionate

What happens

No Sad Songs is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Nik Sheehan and released in 1985. Billed as the first documentary film about the HIV/AIDS crisis, the film explored the LGBT community's early response to the issue particularly but not exclusively through the personal testimony of Jim Black, a man with AIDS who died several months after the film's release, and Catherine Hunt, the sister of another person with AIDS. Several other community figures, including musician David Sereda and HIV/AIDS activist Jim St. James, also appear in smaller capacities in the film. The film was produced by Cell Productions in conjunction with the AIDS Committee of Toronto. Through much of the film and in the original promotional poster, Black wore a "Choose Life" T-shirt by artist Katharine Hamnett; however, during the time between the film's production and its release, Christian evangelist Ken Campbell had registered "Choose Life Canada" as the name of an anti-abortion lobby group, and the AIDS Committee faced controversy when it chose to withdraw the posters rather than risk having them misconstrued as an endorsement of Campbell. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• Buddies (1985)
• An Early Frost (1985)
• Some Even Fall in Love (1980)
• The AIDS Show (1986)
• What Sex Am I? (1985)
• Too Close for Comfort (1990)
• Silverlake Life: The View from Here (1993)
• Positive (1990)