Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About his Father
Directed by Kurt Kuenne
By Alan Bacchus

In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a young 28-year-old doctor, was murdered, a heinous, premeditated crime that left his infant son, Zachary, without a father. As a gift for Zachary to discover in older age, Bagby's best friend and filmmaker, Kurt Kuenne, embarked on a journey to document Andrew's life and present to the world the criminal case against the murderer, which, during the making of the film, unfolded with remarkable dramatic intensity. Like Andrew Jarecki's Capturing the Friedmans and Jonathan Caoette's Tarnation, Kuenne uses the medium in such profoundly personal ways beyond mere entertainment. Dear Zachary isn't so much a documentary as it is an experience, a sharp true crime procedural, a damning indictment of a failed criminal justice system and above all, a beautiful, artistically rendered portrait of a man whose life will be paying forward long past his death. Using old home videos and red-eyed, unflattering point-and-shoot stills, Kuenne shows Andrew Bagby as an accessible everyman, someone anyone of us could have known; he's neither famous nor rich, nor particularly important in any way beyond his immediate family and friends, but within his circle is a very special person. Kuenne tells his story with such emotional honesty that the tragedy that finds Andrew and his family hits home with as much frustrating anger as if it occurred to one's own family or friends. Kuenne's technique is fuelled with this anger. He edits the film with the pace and excitement of a child describing a monumental experience, trying to get it all out in one breath. We're bombarded with information, voiceovers and imagery overlapping, creating a rhythm of chaotic intensity. In an effort to put us on the emotional rollercoaster of Babgy's family, Kuenne often floors us with monumental shifts in tone that cross from one emotional extreme to the other. After a successful festival run, Dear Zachary is ripe for discovery by the Blockbuster audience. The DVD contains more interviews and footage for Bagby and his family but after 90 minutes of heartbreaking tragedy, you'll need some time away from the material to recover. (Mongrel Media)
Annotations of an Autopsy - The Reign of Darkness
Blessure Grave - Judged By Twelve, Carried By Six
Magnetic Fields / Laura Barrett
Hillside Inside Featuring Owen Pallett, Ani Di Franco, Basia Bulat, Bahamas, Hawksley Workman
The Golden Filter / LA Riots / Junior Boys
Hollerado - Record in a Bag
Orphaned Land - The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR
Pantha Du Prince - Black Noise
Watson Twins - Talking To You, Talking To Me
Buzzcocks - Another Music In A Different Kitchen / Love Bites / A Different Kind Of Tension
Sade - Soldier Of Love
Yukon Blonde - Yukon Blonde
Steve Kaldestad - Blow-Up
Galactic - Ya-Ka-May
Gil Scott-Heron - I’m New Here
Dawn Of Demise - A Force Unstoppable
Janine Stoll - Melancholia
Stygian - Fury Rising
Shining - VI — Klagopsalmer
The Kandidate - Until We Are Outnumbered
Troll - Neo-Satanic Supremacy
Meshuggah - Alive
Dark Fortress - Ylem
Massive Attack - Heligoland
Fear Factory - Mechanize
Reckless Kelly - Somewhere In Time
Arsis - Starve For The Devil
DevilDriver / Suffocation / Thy Will Be Done / Goatwhore
Asobi Seksu
James Blackshaw / Gary Higgins
Lil Wayne - Rebirth
Light This City - The Hero Cycle
Lightspeed Champion - Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba - I Speak Fula
Georgia Anne Muldrow - King’s Ballad
Droids Attack - Must Destroy
Hot Chip - One Life Stand
Ellen Allien / Various - Watergate O5
Through The Eyes Of The Dead - Skepsis
Pierced Arrows - Descending Shadows
Rob Zombie - Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool
Pawel - Pawel
Children Of Celebrities - Stereo Bang Bang
Midlake - The Courage Of Others
Guns N’ Roses
Julie Doiron / Attack in Black
Tegan and Sara / An Horse
Nouvelle Vague
Arch Enemy / Exodus
Between the Buried and Me / Cynic / Devin Townsend Project / Scale the Summit
Fucked Up - Couple Tracks
Magnetic Fields - Realism
Strong Arm Steady - In Search of Stoney Jackson
Harvey Milk - Harvey Milk
Basia Bulat - Heart Of My Own
Ihsahn - After
Living Sacrifice - The Infinite Order
Ihsahn - After
Steve Earle / Joel Plaskett
Scuba / Various - Sub:Stance
Make Me Young - Make Me Young
Taking Dawn - Time To Burn
Postdata - Postdata
Woodhands - Remorsecapade
Buraka Som Sistema / Various - Fabriclive 49
Beach House - Teen Dream
Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring
Various - Born Again Funk
Wetdog - Frauhaus!
Coolzey - The Honey
Rel!G!Ion - Revelations 1
Buraka Som Sistema / Various - Fabriclive 49
Chicago Underground Duo - Boca Negra
Cars & Trains - The Roots, the Leaves
Morton Feldman / Milton Babbitt / Phoenix Ensemble - Clarinet Quintets
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