“All happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Tolstoy chose this immortal epigram to open his celebrated novel Anna Karenina. But the Russian master could scarcely have imagined the astonishing family drama that unfolds in PRODIGAL SONS, filmmaker Kimberly Reed’s chronicle of obsessive sibling rivalry, gender transition, unexpected celebrity and the attempted repair of sundered familial ties. On the occasion of her 20th high school reunion, Kim—the director and the emotional center of the film—returns to her small Montana hometown after a decade of estrangement from her troubled adoptive brother, Marc. Suffering from a series of neurological ailments because of a major head injury, Marc is prone to violent outbursts and obsessively ruminates about living in the shadow of his talented younger sibling. Barely held in check by a raft of psychiatric medications, Marc’s rages fade into almost narcissistic monologues of contrition, and his uninhibited and increasingly erratic behavior thwarts Kim’s every attempt at reconciliation. But Kim is not without her own complexities, and the journey home is as much about the transformations in her own life. As her family and the community try to understand both her and her unpredictable brother’s struggles, events take a radical turn when Marc’s search for his birth parents culminates in the unlikeliest discovery imaginable regarding his ancestry. This unexpected side trip into cinematic history expands what began as an intimate family story into a larger vision of identity, inheritance and the inscrutable vagaries of fate.

Filmmaker Q&A

Introduce yourself:
Kimberly Reed is a filmmaker living in New York City. She was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film, and has been awarded a Yaddo Artists’ Community Fellowship and a Squaw Valley Community of Writers Workshop Fellowship. Her work has been featured four consecutive years at IFP’s Independent Film Week.  Her film PRODIGAL SONS— a co-production with BBC Storyville, Sundance Channel, and CBC/Canada — premiered at the prestigious Telluride Film Festival with a record seven screenings. PRODIGAL SONS has gone on to be shown around the world in festivals and on television, garnering numerous Jury and Audience awards, including the FIPRESCI prize. Reed is a summa cum laude graduate of UC Berkeley and a Montana native.

What inspired this film?   How did you find your subjects?
I found the subjects of PRODIGAL SONS because I'm related to them: it's a film about my family, especially about my relationship with my brother Marc. One might think I was inspired to make PRODIGAL SONS by the remarkable stories that take place within our family, but my personal resistance to being in the film myself kept me from engaging with the film. It was only when it became clear that not only was the story of my family such a great tale that I couldn't stand in the way of it, but also that it would have universal appeal to all families, that I knew we really had a film that I wanted to make.  

What were some of the biggest challenges/surprises?
 PRODIGAL SONS starts with my return to my high school reunion, which everyone (including me) expected to be an intense experience that had a high likelihood of being disastrous. I was wrong about that, and it was a surprise. But the big surprise happened when much grander issues reared their head and demanded attention: family, sibling rivalry, blood relations vs. adoption, nature vs. nurture. Surprises can be good for a film, and they certainly were for PRODIGAL SONS. But having to negotiate those twists and turns as a family member was one of the hardest things I've done.

Who are some of your favorite filmmakers?
There's a film stunning film playing at SILVERDOCS called OCTOBER COUNTRY. This gorgeous work is a collaboration between Mike Palmieri and Donal Mosher, and they are "some of my favorite filmmakers." Filmmaking colleagues are crucial, and we in the documentary film community are really lucky to have such a wise, generous, talented group to inspire us all.  

Why did you become a filmmaker?
I became a filmmaker because it's the only way I know of to express the beautiful, complex, messy opera called life.  

What are some of your creative influences?
During the filmmaking process I find myself thinking of literature and music as much as cinema. When discussing editing I hear myself speaking in cooking metaphors. My filmmaking friends inspire me with the beauty of their storytelling and the courage they exhibit in their lives. And my dog keeps me grounded, perhaps even a wee bit sane.

Did you go to film school?
Yes, though I don't know if I'd always recommend it.  

What do you shoot on?
I decided to shoot on HD to capture the big Montana sky, where much of PRODIGAL SONS takes place. That proved to be the right decision when we ended up traveling to Croatia, and we had a chance to capture the beautiful Adriatic Sea.