Fundraiser set for new QC LGBTQ documentary
Quad Cities Pride in Memory will host a red-carpet film fundraiser on Sunday, April 28th at the Last Picture House in Davenport to support “Our Story: Pride in Memory,” a documentary currently in production by Emmy-winning filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Moline-based Fourth Wall Films.
“We must tell our stories now more than ever. First, to preserve them for history before they disappear,” Rev. Rich Hendricks, chair of the QC Pride in Memory Executive Committee, said in an event release. “Second, because we are experiencing an unprecedented amount of legislative and social persecution in the LGBTQ+ community today and people need to be inspired again about equality for all.
“Now we have this fabulous collaboration with award-winning Fourth Wall Films, but we need the community’s help to make it happen,” he said.
“Our Story: Pride in Memory” (working title) shines a light on the untold history of the Quad Cities’ LGBTQ+ community. From the guarded 1950s, AIDS, and gay marriage to current attempts to roll back LGBTQ+ rights, the film reveals the story of a personal and local civil rights movement, the release says.
The new documentary features the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ residents through illuminating on-camera interviews and combines them with compelling archival images and film footage to tell an inspiring story of struggle, achievement, and pride.
“To us, this is another important civil rights story that needs to be preserved and told,” director Kelly Rundle said. “Every American deserves the right to be treated equally under the law.”
The Rundles have produced over 20 award-winning documentary films. The “Our Story” documentary project has received a production grant from Illinois Humanities.
The Pride in Memory Red Carpet Film Fundraiser will be held at the Last Picture House, 325 E. 2nd Street, Davenport. A Cocktail Hour with heavy hors d’oeuvres and cash bar will be held at 6 p.m. A sneak peek at clips from the “Our Story: Pride in Memory” documentary with Q&A begins at 7 p.m., followed by a special showing of the Oscar-nominated film “How to Survive a Plague.”
Tickets are $50 (seating is limited), available in advance HERE.
QCPIM member Sara Meyer said about the 2012 feature film “How to Survive a Plague”: “We have a ‘plague’ of hate taking place today and we can learn a lot from the ways our community survived and overcame the HIV/AIDS crisis of the ‘80s and ‘90s.”
Established in 2021, Quad Cities Pride in Memory’s mission is to document, protect and preserve LGBTQ+ history in the greater Quad Cities area, and to educate the public regarding that history and its significance. To date, the nonprofit has conducted over 40 oral history video or audio interviews with key historical figures in the QC LGBTQ+ community, and collected printed materials and artifacts for a permanent archive at the Putnam Museum & Science Center.
QCPIM has collaborated with Augustana College students (in Queer Theory, Theater Arts, Filmmaking studies) along with Gender Studies and Geography faculty members. A portable historical panel display focused on LGBTQ+ history in the QC has been created.
In addition to the “Pride In Memory” documentary project, QCPIM is working to create and launch a clickable map-based website that will allow access to interviews and images of artifacts for research purposes.
For more information about the documentary “Our Story: Pride in Memory” and how you can help support and/or donate to the film project, visit the film website HERE.
Fourth Wall Films is a four-time Emmy award-winning independent media production company formerly located in Los Angeles, and now based in Moline. Learn more about their projects HERE.
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