Positive & Silence = Death [In-Person Only]
This event took place Dec 12 - Dec 15, 2024
$14 General Admission
$10 Student/Child/Senior
$7 NWFF Member
Rosa Von Praunheim
Germany & USA
1990
2h
About
(Rosa Von Praunheim, 1990, Germany & United States, Total Run Time 120 min, in English)
Upon the global outbreak of the AIDS epidemic, director Rosa Von Praunheim set his sights on making films in direct response to the inaction of the powerful and the action of those directly affected by HIV/AIDS. Positive and Silence = Death, the first two parts of Von Praunheim’s AIDS Trilogy, focus on the lived experiences and reactions of the queer community in New York City as they fight against a local and national government that allowed thousands of people to die without a second thought.
POSITIVE (1990)
This film powerfully documents New York City’s gay community’s response to the AIDS crisis as they are forced to organize themselves after the government’s failure to stem the epidemic. Activists who are interviewed include playwrite Larry Kramer, People With AIDS Coalition co-founder Michael Callen (who died of AIDS in 1994), New York filmmaker and journalist Phil Zwickler, as well as representatives from ACT-UP, Queer Nation and the Gay Men’s Health Crisis.
SILENCE = DEATH (1990)
Featuring appearances and performances by artists such as David Wojnarowicz, Rafael Gamba, Paul Smith, Peter Kunz, Allen Ginsberg, Don Moffett, Bern Boyle, Keith Haring and Emilio Cubeiro, Rosa Von Praunheim’s follow-up to Positive shifts focus to the various responses to the AIDS crisis in New York City from the arts community specifically.
“Praunheim is just the man for the job he has taken on with “Silence=Death” and “Positive”: he has the breadth of vision, the compassion and the militance and, yes, the sense of humor necessary to tackle the AIDS epidemic in all its aspects.” – Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Click for Accessibility Info
Ticketing, concessions, cinemas, restrooms, and our public edit lab are located on Northwest Film Forum’s ground floor, which is wheelchair accessible. All doors in Northwest Film Forum are non-motorized, and may require staff assistance to open. Our upstairs workshop room is not wheelchair accessible.
The majority of seats in our main cinema are 21″ wide from armrest to armrest; some seats are 19″ wide. We are working on creating the option of removable armrests!
We have a limited number of assistive listening devices available for programs hosted in our larger theater, Cinema 1. These devices are maintained by the Technical Director, and can be requested at the ticketing and concessions counter. Also available at the front desk is a Sensory Kit you can borrow, which includes a Communication Card, noise-reducing headphones, and fidget toys.
The Forum does NOT have assistive devices for the visually impaired, and is not (yet) a scent-free venue. Our commitment to increasing access for our audiences is ongoing, and we welcome all public input on the subject!
If you have additional specific questions about accessibility at our venue, please contact our Patron Services Manager at suji@nwfilmforum.org. Our phone number (206-329-2629) is voicemail-only, but we check it often.
Made possible due to a grant from Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, in partnership with Sensory Access, our Sensory Access document presents a visual and descriptive walk-through of the NWFF space. View it in advance of attending an in-person event at bit.ly/nwffsocialnarrativepdf, in order to prepare yourself for the experience.
⚠️ COVID-19 Policies ⚠️
NWFF patrons will be required to wear masks that cover both nose and mouth while in the building. Disposable masks are available at the door for those who need them. Recent variants of COVID-19 readily infect and spread between individuals regardless of vaccination status.
Read more about NWFF’s policies regarding cleaning, masks, and capacity limitations here.
