we were here tells the story of how aids struck san francisco and its gay community from the late 1970s onward through the eyes of five people who were there to witness it firsthand. the film eschews the usual historical documentary format of interviewing multiple features interviews with a host of experts and well-known faces, instead focusing on extensive interviews with these five people. they take us through their personal recollections of san francisco in the mid-1970s onward, describing the height of the famous castro street gay community and then the sudden and mysterious rise in the early 1980s of such diseases as kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia that spread through the community due to aids. the community's struggle with this catastrophic onslaught of death is covered, as well as the efforts of activists--including the interviewees--to bring awareness and understanding to the epidemic even as they lost friends and even had to fight the disease themselves. directors david weissman and bill weber, previously known for their 2002 documentary the cockettes, mix the interviews with archival footage and pictures that are well-chosen for their poignancy and relevance. some of the images of the disease disturbing without a doubt; for those who didn't have close exposure to the disease and either saw the media's coverage of the epidemic or even were too young to remember what it was like at the time are likely to be stunned by the physical ravages that were inflicted in terms of lesions, wasting and more. these images, though shocking, are not the true power of the documentary; rather, the impact comes in the stories that hospice worker ed wolf, activist paul boneberg, artist daniel goldstein, florist guy clark and nurse eileen glutzer relate. weissman, who himself lived through aids' ravaging of san francisco, does touch on the national response to some degree. mostly this is in reference to public reaction and the initial paranoia surrounding what was going on. but on the whole he focuses just on the city and the community. while there is plenty of tragedy (including the terrifying fact that there was a serious effort and support early on for quarantine and stigmatizing), this is not without its inspirational elements; the way that the different factions of the lgbtq community came together to support each other is talked about at some level of detail as is the recovery of the community and the efforts of activists to persevere in the face of some pretty overwhelming odds. what makes it such an effective documentary isn't the tragedy or even the inspiration. rather, the natural way that it unfolds provides the impact. weissman and weber go without any overriding narration and just let the stories and images speak for themselves, making the impact stronger than a more ham-fisted direction would have done. the tales that these people have to tell are powerful enough and they don't need dramatic scores or recreations to make them more so; weissman and weber are wise to get out of the way and let history speak for itself. the interview subjects are well-chosen for their different perspectives on the subject and none of them come across as fake or overly dramatic. this is history, simply told by the people who lived it and with a powerful message to deliver to a generation that could very probably use a bit of reminding lest they find a way to repeat it. the technical aspects are good--holcombe waller's score is a nice accompaniment without being overpowering and the footage is edited very effectively--but this is not a story about great music and camera work and in the end, it is left to speak for itself, with a message that needs to be heard. moving, harrowing and often difficult to watch, david weissman & bill weber's we were here about the history san francisco's struggle with aids is an incredibly powerful documentary that deserves to be seen. with five interview subjects relating highly personal perspectives on the subject and archival footage and images that bring the message home, this is easily one of the best films of the year.