Films & Events
Prodigal Sons
Early on in this very personal film, the audience learns that the director, Kimberly Reed, was once known as Paul, a star quarterback in high school before her sex-change operation. Reed’s gender reassignment, however, turns out to be a mere side note—and hardly the most surprising one—in this exploration of her family’s past.
While visiting her hometown of Helena, Montana, to attend a high-school reunion, she reconnects with her adopted brother, Marc, whom she hasn’t seen in more than a decade. Growing up, Marc lived in the shadow of his overachieving then-brother Paul (now Kimberly). Since suffering a traumatic brain injury at age 21, Marc is prone to mercurial mood swings and violent behavior. But Marc takes center stage after it is revealed that he is the biological grandson of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth.
The jaw-dropping revelations continue as Kimberly and Marc travel to Croatia to visit Welles’ longtime partner Oja Kodar to learn more about Marc’s mysterious origins. The raw emotions and sibling resentments uncovered in Prodigal Sons make it one of the strangest first-person documentaries in recent years and one that is sure to ignite many “nature versus nurture” arguments among viewers.
Played at SIFF 2009!
Cast & Crew
Director: Kimberly Reed
Producer: John Keitel, Kimberly Reed
Editor: Shannon Kennedy, Kimberly Reed
Screenwriter: Kimberly Reed
Cinematographer: John Keitel
Awards: Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival 2009 (FIPRESCI Prize)
Florida Film Festival (Special Jury Pri
Music: T. Griffin
Filmography: Debut Feature Film
World Sales: Louise Rosen Ltd.
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(2 reviews)
user reviews
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Prodigal Sons, Jun 04, 2009
By Alex Williams
“Kimberly Reed's fascinating, intimate documentary examines her Montana family's struggle and determination to maintain close ties while weathering life's many changes and surprises—which in this case involves things like sibling rivalry, sex-changes, lobotomies, homosexuality, domestic violence,”
… full review
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Fascinating indeed, Jun 05, 2009
By Zheng Wang
“Not the best-made documentary per se, yet this is simply too fascinating to miss. In fact, don't even read the synopsis if you haven't. Just go in, watch everything unfold, and be ready to react and to think. ”
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