More Americans have been lost to AIDS than in all the U.S. wars since 1900. Yet few know about the National AIDS Memorial Grove, a seven-acre sanctuary hidden in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and a testament to lives lost at a time when the stigma of AIDS forced many to grieve in silence. As we mark the 30th anniversary of the first AIDS cases in the U.S., how do we remember a time of unimaginable loss, and who owns grief in the public sphere?
A new PBS documentary, THE GROVE shows how a community in crisis found healing and remembrance, and how the seeds of a few visionary environmentalists blossomed into something larger than they could have imagined. But the fight to remember takes an unexpected turn when stakeholders of the Grove seek broader public recognition through an international design competition, and a battle erupts about what constitutes an appropriate memorial to the AIDS epidemic, and what is the responsibility of a national memorial.
In addition to the national broadcast, an exciting interactive iOS application has been created to complement the film: iMemorial is a groundbreaking app that connects memorials to place and people. Cutting-edge mapping and augmented reality technologies link memorial tributes to “places where memories live.” iMemorial will be available in the iTunes App Store in early December during World AIDS Awareness Month.
Co-presented by the Independent Television Service and KQED-TV in San Francisco, THE GROVE is produced by Sundance award-winning and Emmy-nominated filmmakers Andy Abrahams Wilson (Under Our Skin) and Tom Shepard (Scout’s Honor). THE GROVE was an official selection at Full Frame and Hot Springs documentary film festivals and was awarded “Best Documentary Feature” at the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.
See www.itvs.org/television?film=grove