On August 9, 2006, Leonard Watson dropped off his eight-year-old son Kurtis at summer camp. That’s the last time anyone saw him. Watson disappeared, leaving his family behind. He was considered missing until 30 days later, when he was found dead by apparent suicide. Fourteen years later, Kurtis Watson discovers a trove of home videos—hundreds of hours recorded by his father leading up to his death—a discovery that inspires a painstaking search for answers in recorded moments, family testimonials, and conversations with people connected to the event in any way, including the Watson family themselves, who come together for the first time to talk about the weight of this memory in their lives. Discoveries of small details lead to impactful and revelatory moments for them, revealing an ever-present stigma around mental health. My Dad’s Tapes documents the tremendously brave embrace of a reality in which some of our most burning questions may forever be unanswered.
My Dad’s Tapes
- Kurtis Watson
- Canada
- 2024
- 82 mins
- Sat Jan 25
- 12:00 PM
- Market Hall
- Virtual / Hybrid Available
A trove of home video tapes spurs a filmmaker to investigate repressed parts of his past and come to terms with his own identity. A search for the cause of his father’s sudden suicide turns into a cathartic journey of reconnection and healing.
- English
- Captioned in English
- Health/Mental Health and Ability
About the Filmmaker
- mydadstapes.com
- facebook.com/mydadstapesfilm
- @mydadstapesfilm
- Filmmaker: Kurtis Watson
- Writer: Rob Viscardis
- Producer: Rob Viscardis
Kurtis Watson is a Toronto-based documentary filmmaker originally from Courtice, Ontario. His short films have been selected at film festivals such as Durham Regional International Film Festival, Scout Film Festival Vermont, and Kingston Canadian Film Festival. Kurtis’ music videos have premiered on sites such as Exclaim!, Canadian Beats, Gold Flake Paint, and Digital Tour Bus. Kurtis is a 2020 graduate of Humber College’s Bachelor of Film and Media Production program. Having cut his teeth in a small town, much of Kurtis’ work and interest is counter to the mainstream. He strives to highlight self-awareness and expression in his films to allow others to see themselves within his work. His latest project ‘My Dad’s Tapes’ is his first feature-length documentary film.
Rob Viscardis is an award-winning filmmaker and editor whose work has been revered worldwide, including at leading festivals such as Hot Docs and DOC NYC. His latest film is a short doc called Power of the Walk (Director, Editor, Producer) which premiered at DOC NYC 2024. His latest feature documentary My Dad’s Tapes (Producer, Editor) premiered at Hot Docs in 2024 and was the #11 Audience Favourite, and also received an award from the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival. His 2024 short doc Kirby’s House (Director, Editor, Producer) was featured by POV Magazine. In 2020, Rob produced two features: The Cost of Freedom: Refugee Journalists in Canada, and Circus Boy. The Canadian Labour Film Festival awarded 3 awards to his doc Town of Widows (co-director, co-producer, editor, DP) which had its broadcast premiere on CBC Docs POV. In 2018, the feature doc Last Beer at the Pig’s Ear (Editor, DP, Associate Producer) picked up best documentary at the Hollywood Independent Filmmakers Festival during its festival run. In addition to long-form documentaries, he has also produced and directed many shorts, music videos, educational and corporate content, as well as larger commercials for brands such as Mercedes-Benz and RBC. Early in his career he was operations manager for a narrative feature film production company, overseeing post production for two features, one of which starred Rob Schneider and Chevy Chase. Recent narrative shorts The Lottery Ticket (Producer, Editor) and Everlasting Wheat (Editor) have won multiple awards at film festivals. Rob co-founded the production company Paradigm Pictures in 2019, but has since left to freelance as an editor and filmmaker while running a project-based documentary production company called Outsideinside.