Would You Care for Me?

The 1980s and 1990s: a world without smartphones, without the internet—but with AIDS. A young German searches for the New York fashion designer Karl Davis, with whom he shares a special phenomenon. Along the way, he encounters activists and icons such as the painter Salomé, Lilo Wanders, Quentin Crisp, Rainbow Flag inventor Gilbert Baker, photographer Bobby Miller, Rosa von Praunheim, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Hildegard Knef. The film tells of an era full of upheaval, creativity, and loss. It explores the beginnings of AIDS activism, the innovative underground culture in NYC, the commercialization of the queer scene, images of masculinity, and the aging of gay men. A video diary from the 1990s thus becomes an intimate chronicle—and a declaration of love for a lost era.