The University of Toledo Department of Theatre and Film, in partnership with the Ann Wayson Locher Memorial Fund for HIV Care at The University of Toledo Foundation and The University of Toledo Medical Center Care Clinic, will host a screening of “Sister Eileen and Her Boyz, an HIV in the Rust Belt Story” on Friday, Dec. 1, in the Center for Performing Arts Building in recognition of World AIDS Day.
The film outlines the ministry of Sister Eileen Schieber, who moved to Toledo in 1987 to serve as vicar for religious within the Diocese of Toledo and soon became a beacon of hope for those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
A free, public showing of “Sister Eileen and Her Boyz, an HIV in the Rust Belt Story” begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, at the UToledo Center for Performing Arts.
The screening, which begins at 7:30 p.m., is free and open to the public. Free visitor parking is available in Area 12, directly across from the Center for Performing Arts.
A few months into Schieber’s service, she attended a prayer service for individuals with AIDS and was asked by a young gay man and his mother to attend a meeting for a group of volunteers called N.O.V.A. (No One’s Victory Alone). When Schieber asked why, she was told that her position within the city’s religious community would provide N.O.V.A. with the kind of credibility needed to gain visibility and support for those across the region’s urban and rural communities affected by HIV/AIDS.
Working mostly with gay men and their families, as well as other grassroots organizers, Schieber soon established David’s House Compassion, the area’s only housing shelter and resource center for people with HIV/AIDS. Situated in an abandoned Catholic rectory within a red-lined district of Toledo, David’s House was a beacon of hope for rust belt residents during a time when an HIV diagnosis meant certain death and rendered a devastating social stigma on those with the virus. Schieber’s pastoral approach to AIDS ministry can now be understood as radical work, upsetting the theological approaches to the HIV/AIDS crisis, which both historically and currently dominate the cultural narratives about the virus and the epidemic of the late 1980s.
“Sister Eileen and Her Boyz, an HIV in the Rust Belt Story” will be distributed to PBS affiliates across the United States, into parts of Canada, and throughout Puerto Rico in late 2023/early 2024 by the National Educational Telecommunications Association (N.E.T.A.), a leading provider of quality educational media content to public broadcasting systems.
Although a standalone short film, the documentary is the first completed chapter within an ongoing documentary series called “HIV in the Rust Belt,” recording the stories of long-term HIV survivors, their caregivers and their connections to David’s House. The project has received major funding from The University of Toledo, Ohio Humanities, Holiday with a Heart Charity Gayla, The John Domrose Foundation for Human Rights and several independent donors.
Holly Hey, a professor of film and video at UToledo, directed and produced the film with co-producer Dr. Ally Day, an associate professor in the Department of Disability Studies. UToledo film and video students were employed as camera operators, and Dr. Lee Heritage, a professor of music, composed the music and soundscape for the film.
Hey, the creative team and area HIV/AIDS experts will host a talkback discussion for the film screening.
