About the film
Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt is a 1989 American documentary about the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, it runs 90 minutes and focuses on several people represented by panels in the Quilt. Their personal reminiscences are combined with archival footage of the subjects, alongside footage of politicians, health professionals, and other people with AIDS.
The film’s sections include statistics on Americans diagnosed with and dying from AIDS during the early years of the epidemic. It concludes with the first display of the complete Quilt at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., during the 1987 Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The film is in English, its listed subject is HIV/AIDS, and it is identified as both a documentary film and an LGBTQ-related film.
Bill Couturié is listed as producer, and the film received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.
Who it is for
This documentary may suit viewers interested in the AIDS Memorial Quilt, HIV/AIDS, and personal stories connected to the Quilt’s panels. It may also interest students studying LGBTQ-related documentary film.
Worth knowing
- Focuses on people represented in the Quilt
- Combines personal reminiscences and archival footage
- Includes early epidemic statistics
- Received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film
Before you press play
- Runtime is 90 minutes
The short of it
Common Threads presents the Quilt through personal stories, archival material, and accounts of the early AIDS epidemic. Its focus culminates in the first display of the complete Quilt in Washington, D.C.
What it is about
Awards on record
- Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film