- Welcome to Independent Lens.
I'm Pete Schwaba, host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
"In everyone's youth, there's at least one pivotal something,
"that for whatever reason, shapes who we are.
It haunts us, but it can make us stronger."
So says director Reed Harkness
about his brother's experiences,
which are catalogued in tonight's film Sam Now.
That pivotal incident to which Harkness was referring to
was when his half-brother Sam's mom
suddenly left and without explanation
when Sam was just 14 years old.
In Sam Now, Reed covers a 25-year span
in Sam's life and his own,
in which the brothers try to make sense
of Sam's mother leaving.
When Sam was 17, he and Reed hit the road
on a West Coast trek in search of Sam's mom
and filmed the entire experience.
The trip turned into a soul-searching journey
as Sam tries to make peace
with not only his mother vanishing overnight,
but why she would just pick up
and leave the family, as all indications were that
she was an involved and loving mother.
The director uses experimental film techniques
and tons of archival footage from home movies.
Reed Harkness started making films with Sam
when Sam was just 11 years old, allowing us throughout the film
to see Sam grow up right before our eyes.
It is no doubt an advantage having your access character
be a close and willing blood relative,
but the true challenge for the director
was balancing youthful emotional energy
and emotional baggage.
Offsetting some of the heaviness,
Harkness finds a way to work in humor and whimsy.
One scene in particular on the brothers' California trip
shows a young Sam running by the sea and using a bullhorn,
calling for his mother and telling her he's in California.
The graininess of Reed's old footage
helps transport the viewer
to that sweet but heartbreaking moment in time.
Without giving too much away,
it's after the search for Sam's mom ends
that Harkness finds a way to elevate
this emotional journey of his leading man
as we watch Sam try to break free
from the devastating event that scarred his childhood so deeply.
Now sit back and let us take you on a journey
into a riveting film.
Sam Now starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.