SXSW Movie Review: Dear Zachary
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, a heart-wrenching, thought-provoking documentary edited and directed by Kurt Kuenne explores, in often excruciating detail, the death of his best friend, Andrew Bagby, a twenty-eight year old doctor completing his residency in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. On the morning of November 5, 2001, Bagby’s bullet-riddled body was found in a public park. Suspicion almost immediately turned to Bagby’s ex-girlfriend, Dr. Shirley Turner, a Canadian woman who studied with Bagby at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She moved to the United States to be closer to Bagby. As Turner’s arrest seemed imminent, she fled back to St. John’s, a small city in Newfoundland, Canada.
Kuenne initially set out to document his friend’s life through interviews with friends, family members, medical students from Memorial University, and Bagby’s fellow residents at the hospital in Latrobe. As the Bagby case focused on Turner, Kuenne began to follow it with greater interest. Turner’s extradition back to the United States, however, proved more difficult than expected. Delay followed delay. Turner was released on bail (twice). When Turner announced that she was pregnant with Andrew’s child, his parents, Kate and David, decided to leave their lives in California behind and move to Newfoundland.
Once Turner and Bagby’s child, Zachary, was born, David and Kate petitioned the Canadian legal system for custody or visitation rights. Again, they encountered obstacles, both with the legal system and, unsurprisingly, with Turner, who stonewalled the Bagbys whenever and wherever she could. The Bagbys had little recourse except to acquiesce in Turner retaining parental rights and wait for the torturously labyrinthine legal system to send Turner back to the United States so could stand trial for the first-degree murder of their son.
What initially started out as Kuenne’s personal project to gather as much documentary information about his friend grew until it encompassed Turner’s extradition hearings, the Bagbys struggles to obtain custody of Zachary, and ultimately, an indictment of the Canadian legal system. Almost as importantly (or more importantly, depending on your perspective), Dear Zachary grew into a character study or portrait of the Bagbys, a couple near retirement age who lost so much, but still managed to find meaning in their struggles. After the resolution of their son’s case, the Bagbys became advocates for reform. They hoped and continue to hope that their advocacy will help reform bail laws and strengthen child protection laws.
If Dear Zachary has any missteps, they’re minor ones that are easy to overlook. The decision to show crime scene photos of Andrew’s body late in the film (as opposed to early on) comes as a complete shock, but there they serve as both a stark reminder of Turner’s crime and to renew the sense of outrage associated with her crime. Some of Kuenne’s editing decisions also seem ill advised, but again, they’re minor when compared to the rest of the documentary’s strengths. In addition to editing and directing Dear Zachary, Kuenne also served as his own cinematographer and composed the score. Kuenne ultimately succeeds in crafting a deeply personal documentary about Andrew Bagby, the great impact Bagby made on his friends, family, and acquaintances and indicts a legal system that protected an accused murderer at the expense of the survivors.
Carol Alt Biography
She’s been named “The Most Beautiful Woman in the World” by Playboy and dubbed the “Next Million Dollar Face” by Life Magazine and graced up to 800 magazine covers, but Carol Alt’s most personal project to date is her life changing diet.
Alt is the poster child for the famous line - you are what you eat. You see, Carol is a raw foodist. And no, it’s not just eating salads or being a vegetarian, not in the slightest. She can eat anything, yes, even meat (raw) and as much as she wants and she’s never hungry…ever or rarely gets sick. She’s getting the benefits you wouldn’t believe because her food doesn’t lose the nutritional value (those all-important enzymes) that are lost through cooking that can make you look your best.
In the hopes of looking as good as Alt, we’ll forego cooked food any day.. and keep her new book Eating in the Raw: A Beginner’s Guide to Getting Slimmer, Feeling Healthier, and Looking Younger the Raw-Food Way kitchen-side.
Carol Alt is the epitomy of defying age. She looks better in her 40’s than most 20 year olds. And, it has nothing to do with hours upon hours in a gym or plastic surgery….It’s all in what she eats and it shows. We’ve caught up with her to talk about her style and how raw food changed her life (her very own fountain of youth)
A leggy brunette supermodel, Carol Alt was also a “Cover Girl” makeup representative. Born in Queens and raised on Long Island, she began her modeling career at age 16 and has been seen on more than 600 magazine covers. Alt perhaps is best known for her 1982 Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover. Since the late 1980s, she has appeared in numerous Italian-made films and TV programs. In the USA, Alt is perhaps best-known for her starring role opposite Eric Roberts in the syndicated “Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride” (1991) and its 1993 sequel “Vendetta II: The New Mafia”. She also co-starred in the short-lived adventure series “Thunder in Paradise” (syndicated, 1994). More recently, Alt appeared in “Private Parts” (1997) as an airline passenger to whom Howard Stern recounts his life story and had the lead in the syndicated series “Peter Benchley’s Amazon” (1999-2000).
- Born:
on 12/01/60 in Flushing Point, New York - Job Titles:
Actor, Model, Singer, Bakery worker, Waitress
Family
- Brother: Anthony Alt. older; lives in New Zealand
- Father: Anthony Alt. was also in army reserves; born in 1930; died of cancer on Christmas day 1983
- Mother: Muriel Alt. before her marriage, had worked as a print and runway model
- Sister: Christine Alt. younger
- Sister: Karen Alt. older
Significant Others
- Husband: Ron Greschner. born c. 1955; met in 1982 when he was playing hockey for the New York Rangers; married on November 21, 1983; separated in 1996; divorced; retired from hockey in 1990
- Companion: Alexei Yashin. born in November 1973 in Sverdlosk, USSR; together from 1998; played hockey with the Ottawa Senators from 1993; did not play during the 1999-2000 season because of a contract dispute; signed 10-year, $87.5 million contract with the New York Islanders in September 2001
- Companion: Ayrton Senna da Silva. born in March 1960 in Brazil; although close, Alt maintains they were just friends; died in a racing accident on May 1, 1994
- Companion: Rex Smith. had relatioship in 1982
Education
- Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York
Milestones
- 1979 Began modeling career; handled by Elite; landed first cover on the Italian edition of Bazaar
- 1979 Signed to cosmetics contract by Lancome; appeared in print ads
- 1979 While waitressing, spotted by a photographer who suggested she try her hand at modeling
- 1981 Profiled in Life magazine
- 1982 Was on the cover of the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated magazine
- 1985 Announced she was quitting modeling
- 1985 Appeared in the docudrama, “The Look/Portfolio”
- 1985 Made stage acting debut in L.A. production of “Sweet Charity”, staged by Bob Fosse and starring Debbie Allen; did not remain with show when it transferred to Broadway
- 1986 Film acting debut, “Monte Napoleone”
- 1991 Breakthrough role as a woman who marries the man who murdered her father in the syndicated TV-movie “Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride”
- 1993 Reprised her role in “Vendetta II: The New Mafia” (syndicated)
- 1994 Co-starred in the syndicated series “Thunder in Paradise”
- 1997 Had featured role in the film version of Howard Stern’s autobiography “Private Parts”
- 1998 Resumed modeling career
- 1999 Starred in the syndicated adventure series “Peter Benchley’s Amazon”
- 1999 Starred in “Thinking of Africa”, a series of 12 two-hour films made for Italian television
- Appeared in about a dozen European features
- Raised in College Point, New York and (from 1971) in East Williston on Long Island
- Signed to contract with Cover Girl cosmetics; featured in TV commericals and print advertisements
- Was featured on the covers of several fashion and women’s magazines including Vogue and Cosmopolitan
Jessica Alba Says Pregnancy Is ’Awesome’
With fiancé Cash Warren by her side, Jessica Alba can’t help gushing about her impending baby joy.
“It’s awesome,” she told Friends Thursday in L.A. at Glamour magazine’s kickoff for V-Day’s 10th Anniversary. “It’s the best time ever. I have two movies coming out, a baby, a fiancé – everything.”
The 26-year-old actress, who’s due in late spring or early summer, said the pregnancy has been smooth so far. But, she admitted, “I’m more tired, more hungry than normal.”
Alba – who also recently announced her engagement to longtime boyfriend Warren, 28, the baby’s father – also said she’s enjoying a rare break from acting.
“I don’t know if anyone wants me in their movies [when I’m] six months pregnant,” she joked. “I’ll get the fire and I’ll want to work again, but right now it’s a time to relax and sit back.”
For now, the actress is focused on a more personal project: “I bought a new house a couple weeks ago. I’m in nesting phase.”
Later, Alba joked about her growing baby bump as she performed “My Short Skirt,” a scene from Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues.
“I hope [my dress] won’t pop while I’m up here,” she said. “And if it does, you’re all women, and I think you’ll understand it. [When you’re pregnant], your breasts are engorged and your stomach is getting bigger. . . . And the ass, too, that’s getting bigger by the second!”