SMALL TOWN RAGE: FIGHTING BACK IN THE DEEP SOUTH

This film examines the work and influence of ACT UP Shreveport, Louisiana in the conservative Deep South. During the early years of the AIDS pandemic, ACT UP Shreveport sought to bring attention to the plight of those living with the disease, and also to bring about change in the way the government and the medical community reacted (or failed to react) to the crisis.

Taking its cues, though not direction, from the other larger chapters around the nation, ACT UP Shreveport employed the same attention-grabbing protest tactics that were so successful in cities such as New York and San Francisco. In order to push back against the deeply ingrained conservative mindset of northwest Louisiana, the men and women of ACT UP Shreveport staged protests, crashed meetings, raised their voices, and fought to be heard. As their individual stories will attest, their actions may not have made them popular, but their courage did lead to changes in the way local hospitals, government agencies, and even the public at large responded to the AIDS epidemic.

The filmmakers will attend the film screening.