Jonathan Blake

If you’ve seen the film ‘Pride’, you’ll recall the scene in which Jonathan Blake of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (played by Dominic West), causes a sensation by dancing at the village hall in the Welsh mining community of Dulais during the miners’ strike of 1984... https://youtube.com/watch?v=pBn3gTMD-yg

Jonathan was one of the first people in the UK to be diagnosed HIV+ and who, very much against the odds in those days, has survived to tell his story. I was thrilled to meet him this afternoon - now in his late 60s and rocking an excellent leather kilt (sadly, not pictured!).

He was in town because he’s one of the interviewees in a new documentary ‘After 82: The Untold Story of the AIDS Crisis in the UK’ https://youtube.com/watch?v=yqC8Z1xETlM made by producers and directors Ben Lord and Steve Keeble (see Extra photo) and narrated by the aforementioned Dominic West.

Sahir House, Liverpool’s wonderful HIV/AIDS support organisation, put on the free screening of the film at the Museum of Liverpool and it’s well worth seeing if you get the opportunity.

The directors spent 5 years making it and whittled 60+ hours of interview footage down to an hour and a half, in which we follow the lives of people, like Jonathan, who were touched deeply by the AIDS crisis, and how they and the wider community responded to it, then and since.

I spoke to Ben and Steve after the screening and got some valuable tips on documentary making from them, which I’m hoping will come in handy. Thanks to them and Jonathan for taking the time for a chat!

Today’s song is one I always think about when I reflect on the tragedy of all the lives lost to AIDS. It’s ‘Being Boring’ by the Pet Shop Boys https://youtube.com/watch?v=ESz694bGmFQ