Aeryn Gillern…Gay Man Missing….and still GONE
I watched this movie last night and had to tell everyone about it!
New York, just south of Syracuse.
researcher working at the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization in Vienna and a former Mr. Gay Austria.
2007, Kathy receives a call from the U.N. with distressing news: Aeryn
has disappeared. Upon arriving in Vienna, she learns that the police
have no interest in an investigation. Detectives tell Kathy that Aeryn
had been at the Kaiserbründl – an exclusive men’s sauna in downtown
Vienna – on the evening of October 29th when he suffered an extreme and
sudden emotional breakdown, fled the sauna wearing only a towel, ran
naked through the city streets, and jumped into the Danube Canal. (WHAT?! Can you imagine being told this?!)
her son’s disappearance has been ruled a suicide, Kathy suspects there
is more to the story. This riveting and haunting documentary seeks to
unravel the mystery of Aeryn’s whereabouts and uncover the true reasons
for the Viennese police’s failure to assist Kathy as she searches for
her son. By examining all of the known facts, one must assume foul play was involved. But to this day, Kathy still looks for answers and closure.
Next month will be 5 years since Aeryn’s disappearance.
local Syracuse, New York newspaper nearly ten months after he
disappeared in Vienna. We contacted his mother, Kathy, who lived only
thirty minutes from our home in New York, and asked if she would be
willing to be interviewed on camera. Our intention was to get a fuller
understanding of Aeryn’s case, since so little was written about it. We
were uncertain exactly what the story was, and whether or not we would
choose to pursue it.
We interviewed Kathy a few months later
in December 2008. We didn’t know it then, but this was the first time
she was revealing the full extent of her search for Aeryn. Even her
closest friends didn’t know. But even though we knew we were onto an
extraordinary story, we were unsure how to approach it. We thought we
were pursuing a narrative about a missing man, but after meeting Kathy,
what we realized was that GONE was really about a mother’s ongoing
struggle to find her son amidst a surreal tale of lies, intimidation and
cruelty.
And so, as we began to shoot GONE in
Central New York and Vienna, Austria, we were guided by a simple,
defining premise: to immerse viewers in Kathy’s mesmerizing, personal
quest for the truth.”
From Kathy: “I agreed to do this documentary as it provided an incredible opportunity to get my son’s story told.
Our hope is that it will help us get the factual information needed to find out what happened to Aeryn.
I am grateful that the
Producers, and all the others involved in this film, who invested their
time and money, felt that it was a story that needed to be told. They
have been able to make contacts that I would never have been able to on
my own, and have stepped beyond the role of Producers to become
advocates for Aeryn. They remain committed to helping us, Aeryn’s
family, and friends get the answers that we deserve, and making sure
Aeryn is not forgotten.
If you are considering purchasing the “GONE” DVD I ask that you do so from the official “GONE”
web site Purchasing directly from their site allows them
to continue to assist us in our search for
answers.
Thanks to all of you for your kindness
and encouragement.”
Also Visit Aeryn Gillern.com
