IN SEARCH OF OUR FATHERS Cinema's Legacy

IN

Following the screening, watch a special conversation with director Marco Williams moderated by AFI Festivals Senior Programmer Ken Jacobson.

About a third of the way through Marco Williams’ deeply moving 1992 personal documentary about his search for the father who was never a part of his life, a relative tells him, “Our family is notorious for lying.” Marco replies: “That’s what I’m discovering.” Over several years, as Marco attempts to connect with his father, he travels back-and-forth between Boston, Harlem, Philadelphia and Paris, probing his extended family for answers. What emerges is a family full of secrets. Finally, after multiple attempts to pin down his mother, who left the U.S. to make a life for herself in Paris, the secrets begin to unravel and a deeper truth reveals itself: Marco’s search for his father may be more about coming to grips with the mother he loves than the father he never knew. –Ken Jacobson

Continue the conversation on DOCS Connect with filmmakers and audience members, here.

An award-winning documentary filmmaker, Marco Williams’ credits include: TELL THEM WE ARE RISING: THE STORY OF HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (2017); THE BLACK FIVES (2014); THE UNDOCUMENTED (2013); MLK BOULEVARD: THE CONCRETE DREAM (2003); TWO TOWNS OF JASPER (2002); MAKING PEACE: REBUILDING OUR COMMUNITIES (1995); THE SPIRITUAL DEFICIT AND THE AMERICAN DREAM (1994); WITHOUT A PASS (1992); and IN SEARCH OF OUR FATHERS (1991).

Details

Country: USA

Year: 1992

Director: Marco Williams

Screenwriter: Marco Williams

Producers: Marco Williams, Michael Rubbo

Executive Producers: Frederick Zollo, Nicholas Paleologos

Directors of Photography: Marco Williams, Nick Doob, Jean-Paul Mioto, Phil Abraham

Editor: Lisa Leeman

Music: Billy Childs

Featuring: James Berry, Mitsie King, Finley Marcus, Ruthann Marcus, Sally Marcus

Running Time (minutes): 70

Language: English

Accessibility: Closed Captions Available

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