Tampa Filmmakers to Produce Internet Memorial for Roadside Victims
Tampa, Fl. - (Oct 7, 2004) - Tampa Filmmakers Joe Kipikash and Eric Polins announced today that they will launch a roadside memorial Web site portal (www.roadsidetributes.org) that will offer a free tribute to anyone wishing to immortalize loved ones.
Crosses, candles, wreaths, weathered photographs or other roadside shrines dedicated to travel related fatalities are all over our highways and roads. These shrines erected by loved ones are actually illegal, but still stand, sometimes for months, before they are removed by county road crews.
Since auto accidents are on the rise, these roadside memorials are now pitting families mourning victims of fatal traffic accidents against state highway officials who are concerned roadside shrines may distract drivers or pose other safety hazards.
When asked why the two filmmakers were launching a Web portal, Kipikash explained, "The roadside memorial tradition transcends all cultural boundaries. From Mexico to Ireland, and so many points in between, people feel an inherent need to call attention to the exact place where they lost a loved one. Yet many people oppose it. Some have even criticized these memorials as being eyesores…myself included; until I thought more deeply about the painful stories behind such memorials, and set out to discover them. As filmmakers, Eric and I are recorders of life and we both feel that it is time to bring focus to this international phenomenon."
In some cases, the memorials created by friends and relatives are being replaced by the white disks. These are the only legal memorials. Those erected by loved ones are not permitted but still stand, sometimes for months, before they are removed by county road crews.
Polins and Kipikash were initially coupled together to produce a feature film titled, DESCANSOS (from the Spanish word meaning resting places). Their quest for such information began while doing research for their feature film.
"We agreed that our work of fiction should also include real life stories. But there was no single consolidated source you could go to for information on these tributes on a global scale. So we decided to create one ourselves," Kipikash said.
Now, the filmmakers are reaching out via the Web, financing newspaper ads, and traveling countless miles of roadways to collect visual images of roadside memorials to unearth the stories behind them. They are currently in pre-production for the documentary part of the feature film that will include interviews with people from various walks of life and regions of the country.
The filmmakers have changed gears rather quickly to work with Web designers to change the movie's promotional Web site into something which could be more useful for victims' families. "Since it would be unrealistic for us to travel every inch of highway in the world, Eric suggested using the power of the Internet, and some newspaper ads to encourage people to bring their stories to us," Kipikash said.
The interface on the self-funded Web site is simple. Users click on a tab and fill out a short form. When approved, the memorials appear on the site as clickable boxes. Whereas Web sites are usually created to promote movies, the filmmakers are using reverse tactics to achieve a final goal. "In our case, the production of the movie will be used to promote the Web site. People deserve to be remembered," said Polins.
Currently the site only contains a handful of memorials, but newspaper ads will start appearing in papers in October 2004, encouraging people to share their stories. Following that, the site is expected to expand rapidly. Kipikash said, "We see the online tributes as an aid in helping victims' families further express their grief, while at the same time creating a record of memorials -- not on the roadside, but on the Information Superhighway."
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