Buddies is not only one of the most powerful films about the HIV and AIDS pandemic ever made, but without doubt the most urgent and important. Arthur J. Bressan Jr defied the fear and oppression surrounding LGBTQ+ communities by bringing Buddies to the screen, and in turn, he opened the door to writers, community activists, and those lying in hospital beds alone and afraid to share their stories. Buddies is now available to stream and buy.
In the summer of 1985, as HIV and AIDS tore through communities, a small-budget film debuted at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco: Arthur J. Bressan Jr’s Buddies. This low-budget film would quietly and confidently challenge perceptions while giving a voice to communities isolated by their governments and politicians: communities where heartbreak, anger and pain had become part of daily life.
Arthur J. Bressan Jr’s Buddies had started filming in May 1985 on a shoestring budget of $27,000, and took just four months to complete. The story opens in a New York hospital where twenty-five-year-old David (David Schachter) is provided with medical robes, masks and gloves before entering a single, isolated hospital room. David is there to meet Robert (Geoff Edholm), a thirty-two-year-old man from California who is desperately attempting to fight AIDS, which is now ravaging his body.
Robert spent his life campaigning for equality after being disowned by his parents when he came out; David, on the other hand, is in a long-term relationship with close and supportive friends and parents. David isn’t interested in politics and prefers to keep his head down, but he also felt a need to volunteer as a “Buddy” and see first-hand what AIDS was doing to his community. At the same time, Robert, for all his beliefs in political action and disruption, is less than convinced about having a volunteer “Buddy” visit him. But as the two men slowly get to know each other and Robert opens up about his past and the disease now stripping him of everything, David learns that being a “Buddy” is far more than just conversation and support; it’s a life-changing journey.
Buddies was Arthur J. Bressan Jr’s final film before losing his own battle with AIDS in 1987. Eight years after the quiet release of Buddies, Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, would be hailed as a groundbreaking HIV and AIDS drama, yet it was Buddies that should have received that praise and recognition.
Buddies is not only one of the most powerful films about the HIV and AIDS pandemic ever made, but without doubt the most urgent and important. Bressan defied the fear and oppression surrounding LGBTQ+ communities by bringing Buddies to the screen, and in turn, he opened the door to writers, community activists, and those lying in hospital beds alone and afraid to share their stories. Buddies was Bressan’s defiant, urgent, emotional and angry call for society, communities and individuals to wake up to the suffering and horror AIDS was inflicting on their doorsteps: a call for humanity, love, medical facts, research and hope in the darkest of times.
Director: Arthur J. Bressan Jr.
Cast: Geoff Edholm and David Schachter
Support and information on HIV/AIDS for those living in the UK is available from:
Global support and information are available from:
The Elton John AIDS Foundation
Follow Us