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Family Name (1997)
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Overview
User Rating:
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Director:
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Release Date:
29 August 1997 (USA)
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Genre:
Plot:
A gay man seeks to discover what kinship, if any, exists between his white family and the nearby blacks who share the name of Alston. | Add synopsis »
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Awards:
3 wins
&
1 nomination
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NewsDesk:
(4 articles)
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Things You Might Not Know About Michael Cera
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User Reviews:
A Stunning Documentary Meditation On Family History, Secrets, Truth and more...
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Cast
(in credits order) | Macky Alston | ... | Himself / Narrator |
| William Badgett | ... | Rev. Primus Alston (as Will Badgett) |
Directed by | |||
| Macky Alston | |||
Writing credits(in alphabetical order) | ||
| Macky Alston | narration written by | |
| Kay Gayner | narration written by | |
Produced by | |||
| Macky Alston | .... | co-producer | |
| Jennifer Chaiken | .... | associate producer | |
| Mimi Fountain | .... | co-executive producer | |
| Nicholas Gottlieb | .... | co-producer | |
| Nicholas Gottlieb | .... | executive producer | |
| Selina Lewis | .... | producer | |
| Maria Maggenti | .... | consulting producer | |
Original Music by | |||
| Camara Kambon | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Eliot Rockett | (director of photography) | ||
Film Editing by | |||
| Sandra Marie Christie | |||
| Christopher White | |||
Makeup Department | |||
| Kate Morgan | .... | makeup artist | |
Art Department | |||
| Thomas B. Davidson | .... | graphic designer | |
Sound Department | |||
| Glenn Davis | .... | additional sound | |
| Rick Dior | .... | sound re-recording mixer | |
| Judd Ehrlich | .... | assistant sound editor | |
| Elizabeth Heeden | .... | apprentice sound editor | |
| François Keraudren | .... | additional sound (as Francois Keraudren) | |
| Craig Marsden | .... | sound mixer | |
| Regina Mullen | .... | sound editor | |
| Betsy Nagler | .... | sound mixer | |
| Wendel Stevens | .... | additional sound | |
Visual Effects by | |||
| Michael Hinton | .... | super-8 blow-up: Monaco Interformat | |
Camera and Electrical Department | |||
| Macky Alston | .... | hi-8 camera | |
| Gary Becker | .... | animation camera: F-Stop | |
| Arlene Donnelly | .... | additional camera | |
| Nick Doumani | .... | hi-8 camera | |
| Brendan B. Flynt | .... | animation camera | |
| Jimmy Fountain | .... | assistant camera | |
| Luke Geissbuhler | .... | assistant camera | |
| John Kenan | .... | additional still photographer | |
| François Keraudren | .... | assistant camera (as Francois Keraudren) | |
| Selina Lewis | .... | hi-8 camera | |
| Stuart Math | .... | animation camera | |
| Curtis Mattikow | .... | assistant camera | |
| Alexander Russ | .... | additional still photographer | |
| Jonathan Schell | .... | additional camera operator | |
| Jonathan Schell | .... | hi-8 camera | |
| Brooke Williams | .... | still photographer | |
Music Department | |||
| Jim Anderson | .... | music engineer | |
| Rick Aoyama | .... | music editor | |
| Claudio Bruzzese | .... | music preparation | |
| Jennifer Chaiken | .... | music supervisor | |
| Daniel Dav | .... | musician: bass | |
| Angelo Earl | .... | musician: guitar | |
| Anana Kambon | .... | assistant: Camara Kambon | |
| Camara Kambon | .... | music producer | |
| Camara Kambon | .... | musician: piano/synthesizers | |
| Rafa Sardina | .... | music engineer | |
| Michael Turk | .... | musician: harmonica | |
| Jon Wheatley | .... | musician: guitar | |
| Liz Withers | .... | musician: vocalist | |
DistributorsSpecial Effects
- DuArt Film & Video (titles and opticals)
- Monaco/Interformat (super-8 blow-up) (as Monaco nterformat)
- F-Stop animation camera
- Frankfurt, Garbus, Klein and Selz legal counsel
- Media Network fiscal sponsor
- Sync Sound sound post-production
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
89 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
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I would highly recommend FAMILY NAME if you can catch it - it still is unavailable on DVD or VHS (which is terribly unfortunate) - I would confess to having a bias (my last name being Alston), but it still stands out as a remarkable piece of documentary film-making.
Overall FAMILY NAME is a family-tree project on a grand, vast scale - an attempt at tracing the 'black' and 'white' sides of a family linked by an uncommon surname (Alston), resulting in a film both meticulous in its' detail, and hypnotic in it's unhurried artistry. Along the way, 'Family Name' also serves as a meditation on family secrets both racial and sexual, as Macky Alston is an out gay filmmaker, and also the product of a Southern Baptist family active in the struggle for racial equality in the American South. A bit like William Faulkner reimagined by Tsai Ming-liang, this documentary reveals its' secrets slowly, as Alston works elliptically around central North Carolina collecting interviews and personal histories, interspersing historical investigation and reportage as he locates the American point of origin of the name in Chatham County, just south of Durham and Chapel Hill, NC. Along the way Alstons both black and white, drawn from across the American economic spectrum flesh out bits of the story, showcasing (or adding context around) family notables like Romare Bearden (an Alston cousin who became a celebrated painter during the Harlem renaissance) in the process.
Alston - who is present, though usually off-camera - has a quiet, mildly cerebral dignity that underscores the meditative quality of the film, and his quiet suggestion that the reluctance in some family members to ponder the racial divide running through a family with a complex history is similar to the reluctance to reveal certain essential elements (like ones' sexual orientation), out of fear of rejection or offense. The suggestion is that the mindful revelation of (or at least refection upon) either represents a true route towards an enlightened view of one's own history and heritage. In this frame of mind, FAMILY NAME must also be singled out as one of the finest 'Southern' films I've ever seen - presenting individuals who embody a region facing a warts-and-all history, with a single minded determination to grow and move on, shattering a list of regional stereotypes even while drenched in the 'atmosphere' the region is famed and romanticized for.
My review might be a touch biased, but so be it. This is a great film, much deserving of a wider audience. Let's hope a home video release happens soon.