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Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt

Play trailer Poster for Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt 1989 1h 20m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 89% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
On the eve of 1987's Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, surviving families and friends of people who have died of AIDS prepare panels to be added to a large-scale memorial quilt project. Drawing from the sea of names memorialized, director Robert Epstein focuses on the lives of six people. Alongside the intimate profiles offered, through news footage and interviews, Epstein puts the AIDS crisis in the larger context of social and government response to the disease.

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Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt

Critics Reviews

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Kevin Thomas Los Angeles Times 05/18/2020
"Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt" confronts us with the reality of AIDS with such simplicity and directness that it is hard to imagine how the enormous tragedy of this disease could be expressed with greater impact. Go to Full Review Jess Cagle Entertainment Weekly 05/18/2020
A
The stories are terrifically moving without manipulation - the viewer is likely to cry more than anyone onscreen - but the feelings that hit hardest are anger and frustration. Go to Full Review John J. O'Connor New York Times 05/18/2020
A singularly moving and sympathetic account of people whose lives have been profoundly altered, or cut short, by AIDS. Go to Full Review Peter Bowen OutWeek 05/19/2020
While such criticisms are relevant, it is also empowering finally to see a work that recognizes without apology the lives of gay people affected by AIDS connected to others who have experienced firsthand the AIDS crisis. Go to Full Review Manuel Betancourt The Film Experience 05/18/2020
Much like the quilt itself, the film is at once a personal and intimate memorial as well as a broader cultural symbol of the lives lost to the epidemic. Go to Full Review Alan Carter People Magazine 05/18/2020
A+
As powerful and moving a documentary as you will ever see... This one stays with you. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Leaburn O @RT35452347 02/09/2025 Not as affecting as I expected it to be. However, it was fascinating to see how AIDS was perceived as the epidemic really caught hold in the USA in the late 80s. Of its time but that’s very important in this case as it was an enormously terrifying illness back when so little was known about it. The political response (or lack there of) is also explored. Watched on DVD. See more 08/14/2016 A moving portrait of a documentary that focuses on 5 individual stories from the heartbreaking quilt that gives tribute to the tens of thousands who died in the US due to AIDS in front of Washington DC. Not all 5 stories focused on Homosexuals there was story of a child & man who took a drug needle etc. it's so heart-wrenching to hear all these mass stories of loss. Narrated by Dustin Hoffman it shows the human story to the battle of AIDS. A moving documentary that is an important film in documentary history. See more 06/20/2013 Given my little knowledge of the social and policy implications of the AIDS epidemic, I found this documentary informative and illuminating. The visuals were beautiful, because the quilts could try to depict what is loving about those individuals who died of AIDS. The only reason I do not give the documentary five stars is that I found Hoffman's narration inappropriate. For me, his voice evokes comedies like "Tootsie" and "The Graduate." See more 01/27/2012 Who can't watch this and not be moved. See more 11/24/2011 probably one of the most moving documentaries i've ever seen. i don't remember the last time i cried so much... glorious and outstanding! See more 05/10/2011 Incredibly moving doc about the enormity of the loss of life from AIDS. Made in 1990, the film still convey a sense of the small moments of grace and the overwhelming heartache experienced by just a few of the loved ones of those represented in the panels of the quilt. See more Read all reviews
Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt

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Cast & Crew

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Rob Epstein

Director

Jeffrey Friedman

Director

Dustin Hoffman

Narrator

Rob Epstein

Writer

Jeffrey Friedman

Writer

Cindy Ruskin

Writer
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Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt

Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt (1989) Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt (1989) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis On the eve of 1987's Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, surviving families and friends of people who have died of AIDS prepare panels to be added to a large-scale memorial quilt project. Drawing from the sea of names memorialized, director Robert Epstein focuses on the lives of six people. Alongside the intimate profiles offered, through news footage and interviews, Epstein puts the AIDS crisis in the larger context of social and government response to the disease.
Director
Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
Producer
Bill Couturié, Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
Screenwriter
Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, Cindy Ruskin
Production Co
Telling Pictures, Couterie, Home Box Office (HBO)
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 20m