Even though the Oscar-nominated documentary “How to Survive a Plague” (by David France ’81) did not win the Oscar, it continues to garner a great deal of attention. ABC Studios has bought rights to France’s film with the idea of potentially making it into a dramatic miniseries.

France, who co-wrote and directed the documentary, would prepare the adaptation, which could go broader and deeper into the subject of his documentary, he said in an article in the Hollywood Reporter.  France also was recently interviewed about his work on National Public Radio’s Here and Now. His film has been widely honored, receiving awards for the best documentary film of 2012 from the Gothic Independent Film Awards and the Boston Society of Film Critics.

The documentary frames the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the United States and the efforts of activists to call attention to the disease and mobilize appropriate treatment and prevention responses by the government and health care establishment. These efforts were mounted in the face of withering and hostile anti-gay sentiment and general public indifference. France collected footage and documented stories of activists and veterans from the revolutionary era.

If you missed the film or the articles on France’s work, you’ll have a chance to see it and speak with him. France will visit K’s campus for a public screening and director talk-back on May 5. A 7pm screening in the College’s Dalton Theatre is free and open to the public.