Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)

Director:

Kurt Kuenne

Writer:

Kurt Kuenne (writer)

Genre:

Documentary | Crime | Drama

Plot:

A filmmaker decides to memorialize a murdered friend when his friend's ex-girlfriend announces she is expecting his son.

Plot Keywords:

Colleague | Letter | Newfoundland | Home Video | Roommate

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Kurt Kuenne	...	Himself (voice)
Dr. Andrew Bagby	...	Himself (archive footage)
David Bagby	...	Himself - Father
Kathleen Bagby	...	Herself - Mother
Dr. Shirley Turner	...	Herself - Ex-Girlfriend (archive footage)
Zachary Andrew Turner	...	Himself - Son (archive footage)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dr. Heather Arnold	...	Herself - Former Fiance
Jon Atkinson	...	Himself - Friend
Bob Bagby	...	Himself - Uncle (archive footage)
Earlene Bagby	...	Herself - Bob's Widow
Linda Bagby	...	Herself - Aunt
Pat Bagby	...	Himself - Uncle
Jason Baldwin	...	Himself - Highschool Friend
Derek Barnard	...	Himself - Uncle
John Barnard	...	Himself - Cousin
Paul Barnard	...	Himself - John's Brother
Pete Barnard	...	Himself - Cousin
Ruth Barnard	...	Herself - Aunt
Robin Bates	...	Herself - Friend
Dr. John Bertolino	...	Himself - Residency Director
Dr. David Billings	...	Himself - Classmate
Dr. Lori Billings	...	Herself - Classmate
Helen Bloomfield	...	Herself - Godmother
Dr. Ian Bowmer	...	Himself - Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Jacqueline Brazil	...	Herself - Lawyer
Elizabeth Day	...	Herself - St. John's Regional Director of Child, Youth & Family Services (archive footage)
Danette Dooley	...	Herself - Friend
Dr. John Doucet	...	Himself - Shirley's Psychiatrist (archive footage)
Mary Dray	...	Herself - Student Affairs - Memorial University of Newfoundland
Dr. Ken Eckhert	...	Himself - Classmate
Karl Fischer	...	Himself - Friend
Marci Fischer	...	Herself - Friend
Olivier Galgani	...	Himself - Friend
Derek Green	...	Himself - Judge, Chief Justice (archive footage)
Vera Griffin	...	Herself - Student Affairs - Memorial University of Newfoundland
Himanshu	...	Himself - College Roomate
James	...	Himself - College Roomate
Mack Janke	...	Himself - Friend
Chris Koehler	...	Himself - Friend
Dr. Greg Little	...	Himself - Colleague
Dr. Tony Locke	...	Himself - Classmate
Dr. Jennifer Lombard	...	Herself - Classmate
Dr. Mark Lombard	...	Himself - Classmate
Dr. Janice Manthorne	...	Herself - Classmate
Dr. Scott McClellan	...	Himself - Professor
Pete McNab	...	Himself - Friend
Jan Mills	...	Herself - Friend
Dr. Anthony Monteverdi	...	Himself - Classmate
Darlene Nelville	...	Herself - Child & Youth Advocate (archive footage)
Matt Oetinger	...	Himself - Friend
Randy Piercy	...	Himself - Shirley's Lawyer (archive footage)
Michelle Pualuan	...	Herself - Friend
Dr. Suzanne Putnam	...	Herself - Colleague
Rhonda Ridenhour	...	Herself - Bob's Daughter
Dr. Andrew Rossiter	...	Himself - Classmate
Dr. Jennifer Shaulis	...	Herself - Colleague
T.J. Shears	...	Himself - Shirley's Son (archive footage)
Bob Sheraga	...	Himself - Friend
Sue Sheraga	...	Herself - Friend
Dr. Clark Simpson	...	Himself - Colleague
Dr. Rick Singleton	...	Himself - Grief Counselor
Gerald Smith	...	Himself - Provincial Minister of Health (archive footage)
Chris Snow	...	Himself - Minister - St. Michael's Parish
Carol Stein	...	Herself - Friend
Dr. Leslie Thomas	...	Herself - Classmate
Dr. Sherri-Lynn Tucker	...	Herself - Classmate
Kristian Vallèe	...	Himself - College Roommate
Gail Welsh	...	Herself - Judge (archive footage)

Runtime:

USA:95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Filming Locations:

Latrobe, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

MSNBC Films

Quotes:

Kathleen Bagby: And the policeman who found him said that, um, he had wrapped him in a blanket rather than a plastic bag and, uh, he and another officer carried him gently back. And he made very sure that he kept the body very far away from the wicked woman who had murdered him.

Movie Connections:

References The Crow (1994)

Groundbreaking Roller Coaster Few Will See

One of the pleasures of an all access pass to film festivals is the opportunity to be drawn to something by word of mouth. I was accidentally standing outside the theatre after the first viewing of this film at the Sarasota Film Festival. Everyone coming out was raving about it, a film that I had originally pegged as just another manipulative true crime documentary. Most had been crying like babies. My freedom at the venue allowed me to change from a viewing of Priceless to this film. I had no idea I was waking into a wall of cinematic fury.

To say it was staggering is inadequate. The impact of it all is in part driven by style. Though the form is a traditional overlapping story structure, the frenetic pace of the presentation creates a sense many times of 'too much information'. Mixed in however are some stylistic tricks that act as accent marks to move your perception to one place versus others. This moves your feelings in one direction or another within the time frame of larger movements of emotion that drive the story. The technique, though not unique, is applied in the course of a story that would seem to demand more subtly, however, it works wonderfully. Could it be that within this piece of time about a very personal tragedy a new documentary form emerges?

But the story and the trek to get through it are what keeps you glued. I will not go into the morphology of the multiplex of stories here since it would ruin the impact. Leave it to say that constant unexpected change ups give one the feeling you are on a roller coaster of emotional complexity. The net effect leaves you nearly breathless and, as one sobbing young woman I convinced to see the film told me, in desperate need of water.

The film ends with a seemingly endless list of all involved, most at least tangentially affected by the event if not actually in the film content. As you absorb the story's impact, consider that the true theme of the film is to introduce you to this virtual community of people discovered by this young filmmaker who started with an homage to his best friend and ended up capturing something far more profound.

There are many moments where we try to take solace in the good that can come from the horrid. After viewing this, ask yourself that even though all involved would have wished for the events not to have happened, the emotional fulfillment exuding from this film may have left all surviving the better for it. This filmmaker's love letter to his vastly extended family that grew out of the tragedy and his odyssey documenting it make for the kind of things we most look forward to in the cinema.