Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt

1989
1h 19m

IMDb RATING

8.1/10

1.1K

YOUR RATING

Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989)

On this IMDbrief, we'll download the history of the first movies to raise our collective awareness of HIV/AIDS.

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Watch How Movies and TV Shaped Our Perception of HIV/AIDS

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Biography Documentary History

A collection of profiles of people dead from AIDS who are remembered in the AIDS Memorial Quilt.A collection of profiles of people dead from AIDS who are remembered in the AIDS Memorial Quilt.A collection of profiles of people dead from AIDS who are remembered in the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Directors
- Rob Epstein
- Jeffrey Friedman
Writers
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.1/10

1.1K

YOUR RATING

Directors
- Rob Epstein
- Jeffrey Friedman
Writers
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 5 wins total

Videos1

Clip 4:54

How Movies and TV Shaped Our Perception of HIV/AIDS

Photos

Top cast55

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Sara Lewinstein

Storyteller (story subject: Dr. Tom Waddell)

David Mandell

Storyteller (story subject: David Mandell Jr.)

Suzi Mandell

Storyteller (story subject: David Mandell Jr.)

Sallie Perryman

Storyteller (story subject: Robert Perryman)

Vito Russo

Storyteller (story subject: Jeffrey Sevcik)

Tracy Torrey

Storyteller (story subject: himself and David C. Campbell)

Gregg Baker

Self - News Reporter
(archive footage)

Gary Bauer

Self - Policy Advisor to the President
(archive footage)

Robert Bazell

Self - News Reporter
(archive footage)

Kevin Boyle

Self - News Reporter
(archive footage)

Edward Brandt

Self - Assistant Secretary for Health
(archive footage)

Tom Brokaw

Self - News Reporter
(archive footage)

Bobbi Campbell

Self
(archive footage)

David C. Campbell

Self
(archive footage)

Marcus A. Conant

Self
(archive footage)
(as Marcus A. Conant M.D.)

James Curran

Self - Center for Disease Control
(archive footage)
(as James Curran M.D.)

Bolton Eckert

Self - News Reporter
(archive footage)
(as Barton Eckert)

Jerry Falwell

Self - Moral Majority Leader
(archive footage)

Directors
- Rob Epstein
- Jeffrey Friedman
Writers
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The documentary was the first project of Dolly Parton and Sandy Gallin's Sandollar Productions not to feature Parton (having previously produced her A Smoky Mountain Christmas (1986) and Dolly (1987)). Subsequent projects from their company included Steve Martin's Father of the Bride (1991), Father of the Bride Part II (1995), and Father of the Bride Part 3 (ish) (2020) trilogy, Shining Through (1992), Sabrina (1995), I.Q. (1994), and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992).

Quotes
Narrator: It took Rock Hudson's death to capture America's attention. By that time, AIDS had already killed 15 thousand of other Americans. Rock Hudson is the most famous name in the giant quilt, a memorial to ten thousand names of men, women and children who came along very different roads to the same fate.

Connections
Featured in The 62nd Annual Academy Awards (1990)

Soundtracks
Common Threads
Written and Performed by Bobby McFerrin

User reviews12

Review

Featured review

10/10

With caution...

Don't take this film lightly. It has to be one of the most heart-breaking films ever made. I saw this only once - 9 years ago! - and to this day, I still have Bobby McFerrin's depressing little theme in my head. Don't plan on doing much after this has ended. It's like SHOAH packed into less than 90 minutes. I never thought the presence of something so stupid as Alf (from the sitcom) could bring tears to my eyes. See this and find out why.

I'm shocked and saddened that I'm only the 9th person to vote for this film.