In the 70s, San Francisco’s Castro was the land dreamed of by gay and lesbian Americans. It epitomised freedom of sex, love, association, style and action desired by so many. Then, in the 80s people started dying. We Were Here is a personal, no-frills account of how a debilitating disease, eventually labelled AIDS, first devastated this free-wheeling neighbourhood and then mobilised it into a supportive, caring community of activists. Straightforward testimonies come from five Castro residents: a visual artist, a nurse, a flower seller, a shy Shanti carer and an activist. Each one lost friends, lovers and partners during the first few years. The forceful combination of survivors’ personal accounts, including their own photographs, additional archive footage, and contemporary news coverage of the spread of the “gay plague”, tells a haunting, yet positive and important story. Simply, it recounts how the initial terror, loss, confusion, and ensuing paranoia was gradually supplanted by systematic research, selfless humanity and a new sense of community.