In the mid-1980s, a simple number and letter designated a ward on the fifth floor of San Francisco General Hospital, the first in the country designed specifically to treat AIDS patients.

5B is the inspirational story of everyday heroes, the nurses and caregivers who took extraordinary action to comfort, protect, and care for the patients of the first AIDS ward unit in the United States. 5B is stirringly told through first-person testimony of these nurses and caregivers who built Ward 5B in 1983 at San Francisco General Hospital, their patients, loved ones, and staff who volunteered to create care practices based in humanity and holistic well-being during a time of great fear and uncertainty. The result is an uplifting yet candid and bittersweet monument to a pivotal moment in American history and a celebration of quiet heroes, nurses and caregivers worthy of remembrance and renewed recognition.

In the 1980s, a new disease ravaged the United States, specifically targeting the gay communities that had spent the decades prior demanding a place in mainstream society. Originally manifesting as an obscure form of cancer, it was eventually understood as an autoimmune disease and given a name: HIV/AIDS.

A nationwide panic followed, and those infected often found themselves subjected to violent abuse as discussion of the disease was inextricably bound up in discussions of homosexuality and homophobia itself. Compounded by the inaction of a federal government that refused to even publicly acknowledge the disease until almost 20,000 people had already died, the disease tore apart gay communities and left a tragic mark on the country that endures to this day. It was at once a national health crisis and a political firestorm that influenced the American discourse on topics as far-ranging as immigration, healthcare policy, and freedom of speech.

A central component of 5B is the rich use of archival footage, juxtaposed with present-day interviews and walkthroughs of the ward prior to its demolition. While we were fortunate to uncover a treasure trove of source material, in many cases raw footage dating back 35 years, the preservation and restoration of this source content was a feat of film craft in its own right.

Archival footage existed in every type of analog format imaginable: U-matic film, ¾-inch, beta tapes, 16mm, and personal VHS cameras. This huge range of materials also spanned the gamut in terms of quality. To restore these assets to a playable state, the tapes were literally baked in ovens to remove sediment so that they may be played just once and transferred to a modern medium. The result is a story rescued from the dustbin of history, preserved in posterity for generations.