WATCH: A group of Cuban punks take desperate measures in this daring AIDS drama set in the ’90s

Image Credit: ‘Los Frikis,’ Wayward/Range

Beginning in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba fell into what became known as the “Special Period,” an era of economic crisis for the island country where resources were scarce and many struggled to get by.

Already outsiders to society, the Frikis—a Cuban punk subculture, with a name that roughly translates to “freaky”—resorted to desperate measures to avoid the hardships of the time.

In the 1990s, as the AIDS epidemic raged on, made Frikis made the bold decision to inject themselves with HIV-positive blood, a dangerous act that nevertheless granted them access to government-run “sanatoriums” where they could live independently, without worry of poverty, and play rock music freely.

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