Out Takes

30 Apr 2019

Modern AIDS Cinema with Yen Tan’s ‘1985’

Arts, TV & Film

To celebrate the theatrical release of Yen Tan’s 1985, we’re turning our attention to modern AIDS cinema and looking at the ways in which it recalls and recollects the early AIDS crisis.

Our guest was Yen Tan, whose moving new film 1985 has been called “richly hypnotic” and “deeply emotional”.

Set in Texas in 1985, the film charts the journey of Adrian Lester, a closeted gay man, who returns home to tell his family that he is dying of AIDS. Shot on black and white super 16mm film, 1985 takes a unique look at a pivotal moment in American history through the prism of empathy, love and family.

1985 is also just one of a spate of recent films that have sought to re-envisage and recreate the tragedy of the early AIDS crisis.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:50 — 47.5MB)

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