Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Sundance Films: Family Affair

Title: Family Affair
Director: Chico Colvard
Website: http://www.c-linefilms.com/c_linefilms.html

Summary: At 10 years old, Chico Colvard shot his older sister in the leg. This seemingly random act detonated a chain reaction that exposed unspeakable realities and shattered his family. Thirty years later, Colvard ruptures veils of secrecy and silence again. As he bravely visits his relatives, what unfolds is a personal film that’s as uncompromising, raw, and cathartic as any in the history of the medium. Driving the story forward is Colvard’s sensitive probing of a complex dynamic: the way his three sisters survived severe childhood abuse by their father and, as adults, manage to muster loyalty to him. These unforgettable, invincible women paint a picture of their harrowing girlhoods as they resiliently struggle with present-day fallout. The distance time gives them from their trauma yields piercing insights about the legacy of abuse, the nature of forgiveness, and eternal longing for family and love. These truths may be too searing to bear, but they reverberate powerfully within each of us (Sundance).

Thoughts: First time director Chico Colvard has kicked off his filmmaking career with a documentary exposing his family's secrets, his families relationships and even the very soul and fabric of what holds them together. It's hard to understand which direction his film is going to take, but that's part of the appeal. It's obviously not an indictment of his father, nor is it a tale of forgiveness, it's instead lying somewhere in the middle. And that's what makes Family Affair so fascinating- Colvard explores the grey areas of life, the nuances that make absolutely no sense and yet somehow make us human.

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