Note: This is the last Film Club for the 2021-22 school year. Our regular features will resume on September 8.

In the coming days, the number of known deaths from Covid-19 in the United States is expected to reach one million. It is a stark and staggering number, but the emotional toll on the survivors is unquantifiable.

“Not Even for a Moment Do Things Stand Still” is a 15-minute Op-Doc film that poignantly and powerfully documents the mourners from across the country who gathered this past September among hundreds of thousands of white flags to honor those lost to Covid.

How should we remember, celebrate, honor and mourn those who have died during the pandemic? How do we come to terms with the enormity of the pain and loss?

Students: You can also share your thoughts in our related Student Opinion prompt, “How Should We Honor and Mourn Those We Have Lost to Covid?” and join a conversation with teenagers around the world.

Students

1. Watch the short film above. While you watch, you might take notes using our Film Club Double-Entry Journal (PDF) to help you remember specific moments.

2. After watching, think about these questions:

• What questions do you still have?

• What connections can you make between this film and your own life or experience? Why? Does this film remind you of anything else you’ve read or seen? If so, how and why?

3. An additional challenge | Respond to the essential question at the top of this post: How should we honor and remember those we have lost to Covid?

4. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)

5. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.

6. To learn more, read “Each White Flag: A Life Lost To Covid.” Jamie Meltzer, the filmmaker, writes:

In September 2021, more than 660,000 white flags were planted on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as part of a participatory art project by Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg titled “In America: Remember.” It was not the first time the National Mall served as a memorial for those lost to a pandemic; in 1987 the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt had its first public display there.

Each white flag in Ms. Firstenberg’s project represented a life lost to Covid in the United States, adding up to a nearly incomprehensible number. Visitors were invited to personalize and dedicate flags to honor loved ones who had died. Some of those in attendance granted us permission to film with them. The result is the short documentary above, which bears witness to intimate moments of mourning and farewell.

Even as we were filming, more and more flags had to be added to reflect the continued loss of life. Walking through this expanding sea of flags, I was overwhelmed by the vastness of death and tragedy caused by the pandemic.

My hope is that through these moments of remembrance, we can empathize with the immensity of each loss. With close to one million lives now lost to Covid in the United States, it may be impossible to truly make sense of the vast impact of the pandemic. But perhaps we can at least see its waves in a new light.

Want more student-friendly videos? Visit our Film Club column.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.