Sachs presents multiple perspectives by liberally jumping backwards and forwards in time, capturing Ira at different ages and points in his life. In doing so, the film doesn’t draw attention to how he changes so much as what stays the same…
Lynne Sachs talks process and inspiration with Rob McLennan.
…But the documentary seems to argue that due to the complexity of familial bonds, only those caught inside should get to define them.
“She, in telling her own stories of milestones both political and personal perfectly captures the way that all of our lives interweave with larger events.”
Sachs, referencing the title of Yvonne Rainer’s landmark feminist feature Film About a Woman Who (1974), practices what Rainer was preaching—and in turn has constructed one of the most powerfully pertinent documentaries of recent years.
New York poets Valery Oisteanu and Lynne Sachs make distillations, sometimes with words, sometimes with images.
Lynne Sachs discusses her new movie “Film About a Father Who” and her 2006 film “States of UnBelonging” with Ynet.
Knowing that Lynne has been working on this film for 26 years, it’s easy to wonder why she doesn’t come to a more definitive conclusion about who her father is or what family means for her and her siblings.
The film is generous in its portrayal of Sachs’ father and achingly vulnerable in its attempt to make sense of the wake of affection and resentment he has left behind. Sachs takes a story that could have been overly dramatic and judgmental and instead constructs a nuanced meditation on what it feels like to love someone whose actions have hurt us and others.
As women in the director’s chair or anywhere else on a set, we should celebrate the bonds we build together behind the camera.
