Common Threads
March 1, 2009
Common Threads is an incredibly expressive documentary depicting the lives and deaths of people with AIDS. The film is a humanitarian piece. Not only was it a film, noteworthy of its artful components, and awarded by its peers for its style and content. But the film was also a tool used to communicate a social movement of awareness and compassion for people living and dying with Aids.
The quilt, represented in the film is a masterful work of art, created by hundreds of people. Each segment of the quilt is an epitaph of someone who died of Aids. These victims of Aids are memorialized on the quilt, by the people who cared for them. Some squares simply show a name etched into the cloth, while other squares have more details designed. The caretaker/artist uses symbols and images to interpret the human spirit immortalized on the quilt.
As of November 2008, Facts about the Quilt http://www.aidsquilt.org/QuiltFacts.pdf
- Number of names on the quilt is more than 91,000
- Size of the quilt in sq feet is 1,293,300
- Total weight of the quilt over 56 tons
March 3, 2009 at 10:30 PM
I was not able to view the movie but I knew about the quilt for many years. It must have been an incredible emotional experience seeing it unfurl to reflect all those lost to the AIDS virus. The idea to make a quilt to honor a loved one turns out to multiple benefits. It honors, it is healing, it is a statement, it is unity, it motivates. I believe the AIDS quilt is a true WUNC display.
March 15, 2009 at 7:04 PM
I loved the film also. The quilts made by family and loved ones of the people who died of the dieses show the spirt of the person, which keep them remembered for the person they were. I think how they presented the quilts on the lawn in D.C was a very powerful statement and a great way to show the scale of the seriousness of the dieses.