‘Standing’ ovation for premiere of AIDS survivor film

‘Standing’ ovation for premiere of AIDS survivor film

Breaux is himself a long-term AIDS survivor - and one of the subjects of the San Francisco Chronicle’s first feature-length documentary, “Last Men Standing.”

Accompanying Chronicle reporter Erin Allday’s print and digital series interviewing dozens of men who have lived with HIV/AIDS far longer than anyone ever expected them to back when they were first diagnosed, the documentary premiered at the Castro on Friday night before a sold-out audience.

“We’re not a traditional filmmaking company,” said Judy Walgren, the the Chronicle’s former director of photographer anb the creative director of “Last Men Standing” when asked how a newspaper ended up making a movie.

Over the course of 10 months, Hussin and Brethauer pared Allday’s 50 subjects down to eight long-term AIDS survivors and 65 minutes of film, which has been selected for inclusion in this year’s Frameline LGBT film festival.

Long-term survivors of HIV and AIDS accepted the death sentence that came with their diagnosis decades ago, and now find themselves in a new, unexpected crisis.

Breaux fought back tears as he entered the theater with an affectionate collection of middle-aged men in statement jewelry.

Guests clamored to chat with the night’s “stars,” each of whom rode a decades-long emotional roller coaster to an unexpected stop at their own film premiere.

[...] folks like Bordon-Gomez asked to go off record just so she could let loose with some good, old-fashioned cusswords about the horror of this disease, which can be managed by medication but still remains without a cure.