Thirty years in the making, Transmission: The journey from AIDS to HIV tells the powerful and very human stories of those living with HIV and the activism behind society’s changing attitudes about the disease. Blending archival footage with interviews from the present, world renowned Swedish documentary filmmaker Staffan Hildebrand lays bare the taboo issues of sex and sexuality against the backdrop of fear and misunderstanding in the 80s and 90s. He expertly contrasts this with the messages of hope and positivity delivered by the young, tech-savvy, AIDS activists of today. Hildebrand first visited Australia in 1988 as part of a global effort to document the struggles and activism of those suffering HIV/AIDS. His unique record, known as the Face of AIDS archive, is held at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and spans over 900 hours of archival footage. In Transmission: The journey from AIDS to HIV Hildebrand revisits the Australian doctors and health workers who were on the frontline of the AIDS epidemic in the 80s and featured in his archive. As a counterpoint he also retraces his steps through AIDS ravaged Cambodia, providing a fascinating insight into the inequities in treatment between our two countries. In the end though, Hildebrand leaves us with a message of hope. He captures the unshakable spirit of the activists who have driven social change and the pride with which HIV positive people live with their diagnosis.