
Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt
1989 · Movie · 80 min · ★ 6.9 · 95% critics
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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Details
- Years
- 1989
- Release date
- 1989-12-01
- Language
- English
- Runtime
- 80 min
- Critic score
- 95/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.9/10 (19 votes)
Themes
- aids
- hiv
- lgbt
- 1980s
Awards & recognition
- Academy Award — Best Documentary Feature Film · 1990
Cast & crew

Dustin Hoffman
as Narrator (voice)
- SL
Sara Lewinstein
as Storyteller (Story Subject: Dr. Tom Waddell)
- DM
David Mandell
as Storyteller (Story Subject: David Mandell Jr.)
- SM
Suzi Mandell
as Storyteller (Story Subject: David Mandell Jr.)
- SP
Sallie Perryman
as Storyteller (Story Subject: Robert Perryman)

Vito Russo
as Storyteller (Story Subject: Jeffrey Sevcik)
- TT
Tracy Torrey
as Storyteller (Story Subject: Self and David C. Campbell)
- GB
Gregg Baker
as Self - News Reporter (archive footage)
- GB
Gary Bauer
as Self - Policy Advisor to the President (archive footage)
- RB
Robert Bazell
as Self - News Reporter (archive footage)
Directed by Jeffrey Friedman, Rob Epstein