GLAAD’s 2025 Where We Are on TV report found that only one character — Argentine sensation Cris Miró from the self-titled series Cris Miró (She / Her / Hers) — depicted a person living with HIV across all cable, broadcast, and streaming platforms.

The biographical show followed the rise of the transgender entertainer and media personality in the 1980s and 1990s before she was diagnosed with HIV. While her on-screen portrayal is a step in the right direction of representation of people living with HIV, it revealed how much more humane and consistent such representation could be.

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These 10 groundbreaking films showcase the humanity & complexity of LGBTQ+ Hispanics

It’s hard to fathom that almost 40 years after the HIV epidemic, on-screen representation of people living with HIV remains so sparse and uninspired. The situation is even worse for Black people living with HIV.

However, a few films have left their mark on HIV and Black representation, and create a path towards a more inclusive future. So, here are 10 essential films about the Black community, HIV, and why they remain culturally significant today.

Precious (2009)

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In 2009, Precious became one of the most talked-about films of the year. The Lee Daniels-directed film, adapted from author Sapphire’s novel Push, follows Claireece Precious Jones (played by Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe in her feature film debut), a teenager experiencing poverty, illiteracy, HIV, pregnancy, and parental abuse in 1980s New York City.

With a star-studded cast that included Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, Paula Patton, and Mo’Nique, who won Best Supporting Actress for the film and became the fourth Black woman to receive the award, Precious became a critical and commercial success. Precious received numerous awards, lauded for its ensemble performances and its uncompromising examination of despair, adversity, grief, and hope.

While not the easiest watch, Precious shines a light on Black youth living with HIV and how a lack of access to resources and education leaves them vulnerable.      

Tongues Untied (1989)

Marlon Riggs’ revolutionary 1989 documentary, Tongues Untied, examines the spaces and identities Black queer men inhabit and the unique blend of racism, homophobia, and stigma they experienced during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s.

Explored through interviews, dance, music, poetry, and performances by writers Joseph Beam and Essex Hemphill, Tongues Untied sparked conversations about Black queer men defying the unique oppression they face. From rejection within queer spaces centering white gay men, apathy towards anti-Black crimes, and traversing the complexities of Black masculinity, Tongues Untied reveals hidden harms within an epidemic disproportionately ransacking the Black LGBTQ+ community.

Tongues Untied was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 2022. 

Mirror, Mirror (1996)

1996’s Mirror, Mirror is a poignant look into the last year of life of Consuela Cosmetic, a Black, transgender, New York City-based performer and sex worker.

Directed by Baillie Walsh, Mirror, Mirror details the trials and tribulations of navigating ‘90s society while living with HIV. The documentary details Consuela’s daily survival, peppered with humor and wisdom that create a unique window into their world. During that period, with conservative Rudy Giuliani as mayor, many at the margins of society faced police brutality, restrictive sexual health resources, and hostility towards their sexual expression.

Cosmetic died of AIDS-related complications during the film’s post-production, but Mirror, Mirror still leaves a lasting impression. 

Life Support (2007)

Queen Latifah’s acting breathes life into filmmaker George Nelson’s 2007 directorial debut Life Support. The film follows Ana Wallace (Latifah), a woman living with HIV who works at a Brooklyn-based nonprofit educating her community about safer sex. Wallace also struggles to rebuild her relationship with her daughter, Kelly (Rachel Nicks), while striving to protect her from the same instability, systemic mistreatment, and substance abuse that led Ana and her husband, Slick, to contract HIV.

Nelson brings the real-life story of his sister, Andrea Williams, to the silver screen, highlighting how HIV education and treatment impact the Black community, disproportionately impacted by the epidemic.

Featuring Tracee Ellis Ross, Wendell Pierce, and produced by Latifah and Jamie Foxx, Life Support earned Latifah a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an NAACP Image Award. 

Yesterday (2004)

In 2004’s Yesterday, filmmaker Darrell Roodt takes a powerful look at the impact of HIV on South Africa. Through the eyes of the film’s titular character, Yesterday follows a young mother (Leletia Khumalo) living with HIV who is striving to see her child, Beauty (Lihle Mvelase), attend her first day of school.

Yesterday is a powerful examination of how HIV affects communities, and through its lens, we peer inside South Africa’s HIV epidemic. The country has the largest population of people living with HIV, reaching 8 million, with 96% of those being Black South Africans. Additionally, South African women between the ages of 15 and 49 have a higher HIV prevalence rate than men of the same age, making Yesterday’s story even more impactful.

Produced by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Oscar-nominated, Peabody Award-winning film is the first of its kind to be presented entirely in the Zulu language. 

Ailey (2021)

Groundbreaking choreographer Alvin Ailey’s immense talent lives on in his namesake, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. That talent and its vessel are the subject of the 2021 documentary Ailey.

With unheard audio interviews from the famed choreographer and archival footage, Ailey removes the veil that has shielded the enigmatic artist and follows his journey as a dancer, choreographer, and activist. Ailey founded his eponymously-named dance theater in 1958. With the Civil Rights Movement in the background, Ailey built a platform for Black culture to be seen in its holistic beauty and for Black dancers to have professional dance opportunities that were seldom presented.

His efforts culminated in his magnum opus, Revelations, which drew on Southern roots, Black traditions, and gospel to celebrate the fortitude of Black Americans. Ailey passed away due to HIV-related illness in 1989. His legacy lives on, however, in the paths opened for Black dancers who can now see themselves performing center stage. 

Paris Is Burning (1990)

Jennie Livingston’s feature film, Paris is Burning focused on New York City’s ballroom culture. Ahead of its time, Paris Is Burning centers ballroom houses — such as House of LaBeija, House of Ninja, and House of Xtravaganza — alongside each house’s iconic “mothers,” like Pepper LaBeija, Willi Ninja, and Angie Xtravaganza.

The documentary details community building within the various houses and humanizes an underground queer subculture with characters navigating drug use, sex work, HIV, and housing instability.

While Paris is Burning isn’t directly about the impact of HIV, its pervasiveness is felt when you consider that Angie Xtravaganza, Dorian Corey, and Willi Ninja all passed away after its filming due to complications with HIV. Their legacy lives on in the children of their ballroom houses who continue to redefine the beauty, talent, and familial bonds of this vibrant community. 

The Lazarus Effect (2010)

Another entry examining the impact of HIV on African countries is 2010’s The Lazarus Effect.

The film follows the stories of four Zambians — a young husband and father, a young mother, and an 11-year-old child — all of whom are living with HIV, as well as an HIV peer educator who lost her children to the epidemic. With the help of antiretroviral therapy, the documentary demonstrates how those impacted by HIV gain a new lease on life, using as a metaphor the Biblical story of Lazarus returning from the dead.

Directed by Lance Bangs, produced by HBO and U2 singer Bono’s HIV-focused nonprofit (RED), and executive produced by Oscar winner Spike Jonze, The Lazarus Effect was just as much of a documentary as a call-to-action. The film featured a promotional campaign — featuring actors Penelope Cruz and Hugh Jackman, pop-rock band the Jonas Brothers, and rapper Ludacris — highlighting what you can buy with 40 cents, the cost of antiretroviral therapy.

The documentary’s importance strikes a hopeful chord, considering that South African countries bear the brunt of the epidemic.

Deepsouth (2012)

The United States’ “Bible Belt,” albeit full of anti-queer animus, is also home to vibrant LGBTQ+ communities deeply impacted by HIV. The 2014 documentary Deepsouth focuses on the stories of a queer college student, a nonprofit founder, and an activist who are all affected by the increasing HIV rates in the American South.

The film’s narrative-forward storytelling and lack of call to action cause the viewer to focus on the minutiae of the subjects’ everyday lives with HIV, with the disease solely in the background.

Deepsouth screened at the Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival and the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, winning several festival awards.

Even with advancements in HIV education, prevention methods, and treatment, Deepsouth is a poignant reminder that the American South still constitutes the majority of HIV infections in the United States, and that access to these advancements is still hindered by political oppression.  

Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters (2020)

During the height of the HIV/AIDs crisis in the late 1980s, acclaimed gay choreographer Bill T. Jones created the powerful four-part ballet D-Man in the Waters.

Originally created as a ballet about the movement of water, it evolved into an evocative, physical manifestation of the fear, shame, anger, and hope that came from Jones witnessing members of his Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company fall to the disease, including his partner and co-founder Arnie Zane and dancer Demian “D-Man” Acquavella, both of whom passed away in their thirties.

Thirty years later, that pivotal piece and Jones are the focus of the 2020 Peabody Award-winning documentary Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters. The film is a powerful intergenerational look at HIV’s past, present, and future.

Jones created D-Man in the Waters at the height of the HIV epidemic in the ‘80s, yet the performance is a testament to Black, queer resistance. With Jones insisting on Acquavella being present at the D-Man’s premiere, it also memorializes a beloved dancer who inspired its creation. 

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