When you’re emotionally prepared to uncover a deeply personal story and the questions that come with it
Go ahead and grab your emotional support water bottle, favourite blanket, or cuddly pet -- you'll need it.
I think we can all agree that one of the best things about film as an art form is that it makes us feel.
Highlighting feelings and the films and TV series that evoke them — or that pair best with them — is exactly why I started this Substack newsletter, and I hope you’ve been enjoying my weekly recommendations and occasional reviews.
I’d love to hear from you if you’ve watched any of the films in previous posts - feel free to comment here or on my social media channels to share your opinions!
You may also be saving some of my recommendations for when you’re in the right mood - and today’s post could very well fall into that camp.
Growing up, I thought documentaries were simply meant to educate and share facts. Now, after watching many documentary films that have not only informed me, but also inspired, challenged, scared, and moved me, I’ve come to know that they can elicit very powerful feelings, too.
In addition to the feature films, reality shows, TV series, and indie flicks that grace my small screen, I also like to fold in a good number of documentaries. With this in mind, I decided to recommend some docs in this week’s edition of watch this; feel that — but I wasn’t exactly sure where to start. That is, until, while reading Sarah Polley’s book, Run Towards the Danger, I was immediately reminded that the one documentary I probably recommend the most to people I know is Polley’s film, Stories We Tell.
To accompany Stories We Tell in this post, I've included two films that are technically considered “true crime” — and although both films do tell stories about crimes, labeling them with this moniker feels a bit salacious since these particular documentaries are so deeply personal and intimate.
Different in many ways, the documentaries I recommend below share at least three things in common on top of their focus on family. Each of the films’ directors:
are on both sides of the camera;
are relatively young at the time(s) of filming;
use archival footage and photography to tell an impactful family story in their own unique, creative way.
It’s fascinating to watch all three directors interview people who they know very well and to witness both Sarah Polley and Madison Hamburg learn so much about their mothers secondhand through conversations with interviewees.
So, without further ado, and because you will no doubt be profoundly affected by the films that these 3 talented directors created about their own families, here are my recommendations for when you’re emotionally prepared to uncover a deeply personal story and the questions that come with it.
TW: death, crime, murder, sexual abuse. Some of the films described below contain content that could be too intense or triggering for some individuals.
📍Spoiler alert: Despite my best efforts, it was challenging to recommend these films without hinting at or referring to some of the content viewers will see, so the descriptions here are not entirely spoiler-free.
MURDER ON MIDDLE BEACH
A four-part documentary series written and directed by Madison Hamburg, Murder on Middle Beach (2020) takes place over the span of a decade. Viewers journey alongside Hamburg as he works to uncover not only who murdered his mother, but also — of equal importance — who his mother was when she was alive.
In conversations with immediate and extended family members, his mother’s friends, investigators, law enforcement, lawyers, and his film crew, Hamburg explores questions about his mother’s life, her death, and his family’s history and dynamics.
Murder on Middle Beach is an intriguing film about grief and family that masterfully reveals both factual information and subjective viewpoints about relationships, trauma, money, secrets, and the crime in question. Made even more compelling by technical aspects such as intricate editing and sound design, this film left me with feelings of confusion, deep sympathy, frustration, sadness — and yet, a little bit of hope.
🇨🇦 Where to Stream: Crave (HBO Max), Amazon Prime (Crave Channel)
Interesting Facts: The screenwriter of the film Philadelphia is one of this documentary’s executive producers, among others from the award-winning production company Jigsaw Productions, who are known for documentaries such as Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief and We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks.
Barbara (Beach) Hamburg’s case is now considered cold — it remains unsolved.
Just last month, it was announced that in Connecticut, where Barbara was murdered, a state Supreme Court decision was made that should make it easier for individuals to gain access to cold case police records; however, based on recent tweets from the filmmaker, The Madison (CT) Police Department continues to deny Hamburg’s requests to view or copy his mother’s case files.
By clicking here, you can read a statement from Madison Hamburg and sign a petition to help him gain access to his mother’s case files so he can continue to work toward peace and justice for his family.
STORIES WE TELL
A brilliant, unique film that dances expertly between documentary and historical reenactment, Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell (2012) explores the topics of memory, family, and identity. The film tells its central story through multiple storytellers who are interviewed and encouraged to recount memories in their own words.
The first time I watched this film I was so engrossed in the subject matter that it took me a while to even notice that historical reenactment clips were spliced into real archival family footage — I thought all of it was real. This was likely due to not only excellent editing but also the ingenious casting of Rebecca Jenkins as Polley’s mother, Diane, who gives a fantastic performance. The production design and costumes also helped transport me deep into the reenacted world of this compelling story.
In addition to its central topic (which I am trying desperately not to reveal here), this film is about memories and narratives themselves, and how subjective they can be, particularly within families.
Having re-watched Stories We Tell a few times, I am no longer surprised by its revelations, but I continue to be in awe of the sincerity and honesty of everyone in the film, and I find it fascinating how in life, as in film, the same person and the same story can be seen through multiple different lenses and points of view.
🇨🇦 Where to Stream: Netflix, Crave, Amazon Prime (Paramount Plus Channel)
🇨🇦 Where to Rent: Cineplex.ca, YouTube, Apple Store
Interesting Facts: The film begins with this amazing quote from Alias Grace, by the great Margaret Atwood, who incidentally, also has a Substack newsletter:
When you are in the middle of a story it isn't a story at all, but only a confusion; a dark roaring, a blindness, a wreckage of shattered glass and splintered wood; like a house in a whirlwind, or else a boat crushed by the icebergs or swept over the rapids, and all aboard powerless to stop it. It's only afterwards that it becomes anything like a story at all. When you are telling it, to yourself or to someone else.
Although I’m sure it was personally and creatively fulfilling and an immense learning experience making the film, Sarah Polley described the experience of publicly sharing her family story as both “claustropobic” and “terrifying”.
GREAT PHOTO, LOVELY LIFE
Profoundly traumatic and compelling, Great Photo, Lovely Life (2023) is Amanda Mustard’s directorial debut. Prior to filmmaking, she spent a decade telling stories as a photojournalist, and is a self-described “professional people watcher”. Check out some of her photography work here.
In this documentary, Mustard is on both sides of the camera, and through her raw, often hard-to-watch film, she reveals disturbing family secrets that have been hiding in plain sight for decades.
Part healing journey, part harrowing investigation, Great Photo, Lovely Life tells the story of Mustard’s maternal grandfather and his history of sexual abuse crimes. The film is an intimate portrait of intergenerational trauma that exposes the aftermath of abuse on its survivors.
Throughout the film, Mustard courageously confronts her grandfather and in doing so, shares with viewers the deeply unsettling conversations that can come from bringing such a traumatic issue out of the dark and into the light.
🇨🇦 Where to Stream: Crave (HBO Max), Amazon Prime (Crave Channel)
Interesting Facts: Mustard continues to reflect on this experience through her podcast, “Trauma Town” where she speaks with expert guests about breaking the cycles of generational trauma.
Great Photo, Lovely Life had its world premiere at The South By Southwest Film & TV Festival (SXSW) festival in 2023. It also won the Special Jury prize for raising awareness at the Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) that same year.
Enjoy the movie(s),
Heather
Streaming and rental sources listed are limited to the services and websites I subscribe to and/or have access to (in Canada) at the time of publishing. Feel free to search your streaming and cable services for these titles.