Dear Zachary: A Letter To A Son About His Father

Synopsis

On 5 November 2001, Andrew Bagby was murdered by his ex-girlfriend, Shirley Jane Turner. After being released on parole, Turner flees the US and takes refuge in Canada, where she gives birth to her and Bagby’s child, Zachary. What then unfolds is a tragedy that has highlighted failures in the Canadian legal system and recently prompted a bill to close such dangerous loopholes.

Bagby’s friend, Kurt Kuenne, decided to make a film about the dead man’s life; a visual letter to his son, detailing the man’s life for him. Interviewing numerous relatives, friends, and associates of Andrew Bagby and incorporating their remembrances of him, it serves as a cinematic scrapbook for the son who never knew him.

At the same time, Kuenne’s film investigates the crime that took Bagby away from his son, his murderer’s flight to Canada and the attempts of Bagby’s parents, who relocated from California to Canada in order to seek custody of their grandson. The result is a powerful documentary with echoes of Errol Morris in the patience Kuenne displays in allowing the details surrounding Andrew Bagby’s life and death to unfold.

“Begun before a second tragedy altered its direction, “Dear Zachary” was conceived as a cinematic scrapbook for Zachary consisting of home movies Mr. Kuenne made with Andrew and loving reminiscences by Andrew’s family and friends.” — – Stephen Holden, The New York Times

“A true-crime story so gripping, devastating, and ultimately unforgettable that it easily trumps any thriller Hollywood has to offer this year.” — – Martin Tsai, The Village Voice