After putting it off for twenty years, filmmaker Sol Guy finally confronts the six tapes his father recorded before dying. Using those tapes as a framework, Guy recounts his family’s story-and his own-for his two teenage kids.
Artist and Producer Sol Guy makes an ambitious documentary in an attempt to heal old wounds created by structural racism as he traces his families’ histories in detail, connecting their tragic experiences as black men and women in America. Sol makes a cross-country excursion to reconnect with his adoptive family and his estranged siblings. His biological father, William Richard Guy, left several tapes detailing his life story. Twenty years after William’s death, Sol felt ready to view the tapes. My own father just digitized some home videos of lost loved ones for my birthday and it took me a while to feel ready to watch so I could empathize with Sol on a deep level and understand why it takes people years, sometimes a lifetime, to connect back to their most painful losses.
William’s oldest known ancestors worked the railroad in Mississippi. After facing discrimination due to racist Jim Crowe laws, they moved north in the hopes of a more tolerant landscape. William grew up in Iowa and experienced racism firsthand at a young age. When he was only twelve years old, a white family wouldn’t let him play with their daughter for fear that he would assault her. This anecdote is a reminder of how a majority of whites perceive black children to be much older and more threatening than they are, often viewing them as adults capable of adult crimes. William briefly settled down in Kansas City where he married and had Sol’s older sister. William’s life in an economically depressed city with a corrupt police force forced him to move around and he left his family behind.
Eventually, William met Sol’s Mother Barbara in Washington DC and they moved to Vancouver. William was at his happiest living on a beautiful remote island and fathering Sol. But once again he became restless and had to move onto another city before divorcing Barbara. Barbara remarried a British man named Freye who was just as important to Sol as his paternal father. Freye’s story is quite moving and I won’t spoil the spiritual experience.
The documentary’s recurring theme is how much remains unchanged with a cycle of violence, imprisonment, higher mortality rates due to lack of opportunities for marginalized/working-class people. William’s traumatic life forced him to move around and, unfortunately, alienate his family. Luckily, his tapes made an impact on Sol – he would go on to refuse to work on projects that wouldn’t somehow benefit marginalized people. It’s a great artistic concept in an attempt to break the cycles of violence and hate. If the system producing these circumstances doesn’t change, how can individuals change their destinies without the cost of destroying families?
“The Death of My Two Fathers” recently had its US Premiere at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival
I happened upon this film by Sol Guy yesterday and found it very moving. As an American raised in the suburban Boston area and having had relationships with several black men from different cultures I was struck by the different experiences between attitudes in Canada vs.America. Unfortunately we still have far to go in the “Land of Liberty”.