The Film
Produced and directed by Sara L. Schwartz, and co-produced and edited by Michael Bodie, Gert’s Boys is a short documentary about Cindy “Gert” McMullin, co-founder and caretaker of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, and the hundreds of friends she loved and lost during the AIDS crisis. Through personal stories and reflections, the film explores grief, chosen family, activism, and remembrance.
Launched in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood in 1987 as a call for public and government action on AIDS, the Quilt has grown into the world’s largest community folk art project, with more than 50,000 panels honoring over 110,000 lives lost to AIDS. Today, the National AIDS Memorial serves as steward of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and its ongoing mission to educate and inspire action through remembrance and storytelling. Known as the Mother of the Quilt, Gert continues to care for the panels (“her boys”) in an Oakland warehouse. The film follows her experiences caring for four of them: David, Roger, Jack, and Joey, while becoming an activist herself.
Launched in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood in 1987 as a call for public and government action on AIDS, the Quilt has grown into the world’s largest community folk art project, with more than 50,000 panels honoring over 110,000 lives lost to AIDS. Today, the National AIDS Memorial serves as steward of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and its ongoing mission to educate and inspire action through remembrance and storytelling. Known as the Mother of the Quilt, Gert continues to care for the panels (“her boys”) in an Oakland warehouse. The film follows her experiences caring for four of them: David, Roger, Jack, and Joey, while becoming an activist herself.
Learn More About Gert and the Quilt
Today, the AIDS Memorial Quilt is the premiere symbol of the AIDS pandemic, a living memorial to a generation lost to AIDS and an important HIV prevention education tool. With hundreds of thousands of people contributing their talents to making the memorial panels, and tens of thousands of volunteers to help display it, the Quilt is considered the largest community arts project in history.
Help Us Continue to Share the Story of HIV/AIDS
Help the Quilt continue to be a living art project for healing, hope, remembrance, and education for another 40 years by donating to the National AIDS Memorial:
