SXSW Film

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne makes no apologies for the fact that he has made an extremely sentimental film about his boyhood friend Andrew Bagby, who was senselessly murdered by his ex-girlfriend. The film starts as a tribute to Bagby for the son he never knew, and then it takes a striking turn, proving that fact is stranger, and sometimes crueler, than fiction. There are some nightmarish moments in this film, but the most intense experience has to be watching Bagby's parents, David and Kate Bagby, cope with their son's death, followed by their indefatigable fight for justice and their right to see their grandson, Zachary. When David Bagby's anger fills the screen, the grotesqueness of pure hatred borne from pain is horrifying. And yet, it's David and Kate Bagby who are the moral center of this film. By refusing to become the thing they hate, they provide a profound lesson on the power of love and the courage to survive the unthinkable.