Curatorial note:

Remake feels especially resonant today, as we film our lives almost constantly without fully grasping how it reshapes our relationship to our own past. Returning to footage shot decades ago, McElwee explores cinema's strange capacity to both preserve a life once lived and transform it into something else entirely. This raises questions that have accompanied film since its invention: what actually remains of a person in their image? Can an image hold on to the presence of someone no longer here — or does it simply recreate the past anew each time we return to it?

Synopsis:

After his son's death, director Ross McElwee returns to his family archive, trying to piece together the fragments of their shared history. Along the way, he recalls his years-long attempt to turn one of his documentaries into a fiction film. The process leads McElwee to reflect on cinema's relationship to memory, and on whether an image can hold on to what is inevitably slipping away.

Languages:

English

Festivals and Awards:

Award: Venice International Film Festival, 2025 Impact Golden Globes Prize for Documentary — Ross McElwee

Award: IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam), 2025, IDFA ReFrame Award for Creative Use of Archive — Ross McElwee

Selection: Stockholm Film Festival, 2025, Nomination: Bronze Horse / Best Documentary — Ross McElwee

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