Type to search

CULTURE

‘In Memoriam’ Explores Aftermath of Gun Violence With Survivors & Families

Gun Violence Vigil For Parkland Shooting Victims. Tam High Vigil for Parkland School Shooting 15 February 2018. Author: Fabrice Florin from Mill Valley, USA

Touted as “a new perspective as wounded survivors and grieving relatives from three recent massacres relive the moment their lives changed forever”, the 90-minute documentary isn’t an overt political rallying cry, but focuses on the emotional scars that these mass shootings create with survivors.

The new documentary “In Memoriam” is an exploration of the epidemic of gun violence in the U.S.—focusing on three mass shootings in geographically diverse locales: Parkland, Fla., the Harvest music festival in Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs in Texas.

Touted as “a new perspective as wounded survivors and grieving relatives from three recent massacres relive the moment their lives changed forever”, the 90-minute documentary isn’t an overt political rallying cry, but focuses on the emotional scars that these mass shootings create with survivors.

The documentary does lists the names of the dead in each of these events, followed by a listing of every mass shooting that has occurred since 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, which will be two years ago on February 14.

Directed by Emmy-nominated Ben Steele, who has done documentaries on other social issues such as homophobia, race, and religion, “In Memoriam” does not hold back on the sights and sounds of gunfire, screams, and people fleeing in every direction. This also includes actual cell phone footage from the scenes of the crimes.

In one-on-one interviews, parents and classmates recount in disbelief how arbitrary the deaths were at these shootings. First responders and heroes from these events also recall the tragedies.

On the documentary’s website, it states that in the United States, there is an active shooter incident every 12 days.

“Gun violence can no longer be categorized as just pervasive –  it is a devastating issue plaguing our country, where victims and survivors of mass shootings have often been overlooked as the news moved on.” said Henry Schleiff, Group President of Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, American Heroes Channel and Destination America. “This film is our first step to shed a klieg light on this epidemic, and one which we hope will serve as a catalyst to ignite awareness – and, sensible action – around the true cost of these preventable tragedies.”

“In Memoriam” had a special preview last November at the Paley Center in New York, followed by a discussion panel with director Ben Steele, survivors of the Las Vegas shooting, and founders of a support website, survivorsempowered.org.

“In Memoriam” aired Feb. 8 with limited commercial interruption on Investigation Discovery, the leading crime and justice network on television and the #1 network for women in all of cable. It can now be viewed in full on their website here.

Tags:

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *