Educational Media Reviews Online

For nearly one month in early 2004, over 4,000 same-sex couples were married in the San Francisco City Hall. Simultaneously a young man in Minnesota thought that it would be nice if flowers were presented to some of the couples who were being married. He did it as an anonymous gesture, just sent some flowers and wished the couples all the best. From that simple act of kindness and the joy of e-mail capability, word of sending flowers spread and within a short period, thousands of flowers had been sent from all around the ‘heartland’ to the couples waiting to marry. This documentary contains footage of individuals as they received flowers (some surprised, some shocked – all pleased), as well as, footage of people who sent flowers. The senders’ messages were simple and can be summed up as, “You’re in love, congratulations on your marriage.” For everyone involved nothing more needed to be said. Several post-marriage interviews with flower recipients indicated the profound impact that the simple gesture had. The power of the documentary is its understated imagery of the importance of love and commitment, not gender, as the basis for a meaningful marriage.

Awards

• Best documentary – Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films and Sacramento International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival