The New Zealand AIDS Foundation has released the first episode of the 30 Project as it prepares for its 30th anniversary celebration at Auckland Museum tonight. Over the last several months, the NZAF has been working with Julian Cook and Zoomslide to produce The 30 Project, which is central to the anniversary celebration. Archived film and video footage, photography and safe sex campaign materials have been made into three films, each chronicling a ten year period. Director David Herkt has edited the new digital resource into stories that provide the viewer with a visceral insight into New Zealand’s response to the AIDS epidemic. The first episode begins in 1984, with the first New Zealander known to have HIV/AIDS – a man infected in San Francisco who had come home to New Plymouth to die. There were no treatments in those days and death was inevitable. The next ten years were formative in New Zealand’s response to the epidemic. The New Zealand AIDS Foundation grew out of the AIDS Support Network, founded by Bruce Burnett, and began the essential work of containing the spread of the virus. The NZAF says The 30 Project is not just a memorial, but also a resource for the future. It hopes it will reconnect new generations with the real faces and stories of New Zealanders who have responded to the HIV/AIDS epidemic over three decades and in some cases given the ultimate contribution – their lives. Episode two will be release on 8 July and episode three on 15 July. GayNZ.com staff - 1st July 2015