The film, A Fire in My Belly, A Work in Progress (1986-87) is a poetic meditation on man, life, death, faith, and suffering made in part as a response to the AIDS-related death of his close friend, artist Peter Hujar. In the 13-minute silent film, Wojnarowicz juxtaposes informal black and white footage from the streets of Mexico with staged color images in a rough montage. After Wojnarowicz’s own untimely death from AIDS in 1992, a separate seven-minute version was found in his studio.

Photography Credit: Courtesy of the Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University, the Estate of David Wojnarowicz, and P.P.O.W Gallery, New York