This film is part of Free
Aids - Monolith
Portentous imagery and John Hurt’s grave voiceover define this key film from a £5 million campaign to combat the AIDS epidemic.
Overview
John Hurt narrates this highly-charged and doom-laden advertisement from the first major UK AIDS awareness campaign, launched in early 1987. A cliff-face explodes in slow motion; an industrial drill bores into a huge block of rock; the word 'AIDS' is chiselled into the polished surface of a granite headstone and a "Don't Die of Ignorance" leaflet drops onto the surface along with an elegiac bouquet of white lilies. The solemnity of the accompanying voice-over quells any vestiges of ambiguity.
The film was the result of a £5 million cinema and television campaign aimed at combating the growing spread of HIV/AIDS. With restrictions around the overt promotion of condom use on television and a growing chorus of moral campaigners promulgating their own agenda, the straightforward and doom-laden approach was probably the only viable option for campaign mastermind Sammy Harari. But the result was a hard-hitting and memorable campaign which undoubtedly fulfilled its brief of pervading public consciousness. This government film is a public record, preserved and presented by the BFI National Archive on behalf of The National Archives, home to more than 1,000 years of British history.
Related
London Line Colour No. 16 London Line Colour No. 16
Cinemagazine 1968 14 mins Silent Location: Surbiton
What do "I'm Backing Britain", electronic music and nuclear lighthouses have in common? Nothing at all, but they're all here in this 60s TV magazine show.
Nurse and Martyr Nurse and Martyr
Biopic 1915 11 mins Silent
The moving true story of wartime heroine Nurse Edith Cavell, recreated in the aftermath of her execution.
Spare Time Spare Time
Documentary 1939 14 mins Location: Sheffield
A rare glimpse into the leisure pursuits of ordinary people in pre-war Britain.
Battle Front in Britain Battle Front in Britain
Documentary 1918 24 mins Silent
Growing potatoes in Green Park plus some handy uses for your old tin cans – it’s all part of the war effort on the home front.
The Queen's State Visit to Iran The Queen's State Visit to Iran
Documentary 1961 14 mins
2-6 March 1961 saw the Queen and Prince Philip make their first and only state visit to Iran. Their host was Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (1919-80), the Shah of Iran, who had already made an official visit to Britain in 1959.
Zandra Rhodes Zandra Rhodes
Government sponsored film 1981 15 mins
Early 1980s portrait of fashion designer Zandra Rhodes, by fellow avant-garde creator, Peter Greenaway.
If I Make It To The Morning If I Make It To The Morning
Drama 2024 9 mins
A Chinese teenager dreams of living with her cool aunt in New York, until tensions boil over during a crab dinner.
We’ll Go Down in History We’ll Go Down in History
Documentary 2025 25 mins
Two years in the life of TRUK United FC, a beacon for positive change and trans inclusivity in football.
Wrong Bathroom Wrong Bathroom
Drama 2024 9 mins
A trans high-schooler is tempted by toxic masculinity in the boys’ bathroom.
Dragfox Dragfox
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2024 8 mins
A child struggling with their identity and a charismatic fox (voiced by Sir Ian McKellen) learn to embrace their differences in this heart warming stop-motion animation.
Wait, Wait, Now! Wait, Wait, Now!
Drama 2024 13 mins
A Maori and a Kiwi teen buddy up to raid their mum’s wardrobe and pucker their lips with red.
NGGAK!!! NGGAK!!!
Drama 2024 8 mins
‘I pronounce you wife and wife.’ A young couple design their perfect wedding online, but then mum dials in.