An extraordinarily moving documentary, “We Were Here” examines how the AIDS epidemic devastated, united and transformed the gay community of San Francisco during the early 1980s.

The disease infected fifty percent of the city’s gay male population, killing more than 19,000 by the end of 2009.

Recounted by five people who lived through what was then called the “Gay Plague” the film, directed by David Weissman (“The Cockettes”) and Bill Weber sometimes has the solemn and quiet atmosphere of a memorial service.

The interviewees, who range from HIV positive Visual Aid founder Daniel Goldstein to nurse Eileen Glutzer get understandably emotional when recalling the partners and friends they lost to the disease and it is hard no to get touched in face of their sincere testimonies.

Weissman and Weber avoid the tricks commonly used to provoke sentiments in such films. Incredibly restrained with music, they address their viewer through a straightforward format movie that alternates between interviews, photography and news footage.

Some images are very grim as we see carefree young men reduced to hollow eyed zombies due to the disease, reminding us of pictures of concentration camp victims.

Still, despite all the tragedy associated with the epidemic, the film is first and foremost a story about friendship as it focuses on how people mobilized to support one-another in this time of crisis.

A dedication to the deceased the movie is an insight into a rarely talked about community. The testaments of these five selfless people who survived the ordeal and have made it their life work to educate against AIDS makes you respect them, give you hopes for the future and a much better knowledge of what transpired in those years. However, this documentary is also a powerful reminder that we still have a long way to go in our battle against the disease.