A spellbinding documentary that’s proves that life is indeed stranger than fiction, when filmmaker Kimberly Reed decided to attend her 20th high school reunion as a woman after a gender change, she thought it would be an exploration of self and her journey of self-discovery. She found out that her troubled adopted brother traced his family tree, linking himself as the grandchild of Hollywood legends Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth.
Prodigal Sons is an uncensored rollercoaster ride of emotions that unfolds for all members of the family and acts as a docu portrait that painfully reminds how Reed had to confront and document her own family falling apart.
I met with director Kimberly Reed at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood.
Yama Rahimi: When did you decide to become a filmmaker?
Kimberly Reed: I wanted to become a filmmaker since I can remember. In fact in our film there’s a lot of super8 films that I made when I was young. I always wanted to be behind the camera and you see my adopted brother Marc in front of the camera. When he found that he was the grandson of Orson Wells, it made sense because he always wanted to be in the spotlight.
Rahimi: Did Marc ever wanted to be in the arts?
Reed: He had an head injury when he was 21 years old, so he hasn’t worked much. Before that he never wanted to be an artist per se but my mom detected that in him that she put him in play that he liked a lot.
Rahimi: How did this project came along and why did you want to tell this story?
Reed: It took a long time for me to figure out that I wanted to make this film. The genesis was when I decided to go back home for my High School reunion. I’m transgender and I changed a lot since High School. I was about to go back to all this people I went to school with. So it was a very difficult decision for me but it was something I did want resolve for my life. A year before that my father died and my close friends found out about me, so I knew that the whole town knew about me. So it was time for me to resolve that. So when I went home that was the first step. Then when you also consider that not only did I had a new identity but also my brother Marc had a new identity when he discovers he’s the grandson of Orson Welles.
Rahimi: Did you find out that during the documentary?
Reed: It was earlier than it appears in the documentary but we wanted the audience to know more about Marc and the history of the family before we brought out.
Rahimi: When did you decided to collaborate with the producer and cinematographer?
Reed: When I decided to go back I called an old friend Bob Hawk and he recommended John Keitel who did a short film about coming out when going back to his college reunion with his boyfriend. That’s where the collaboration started.
Rahimi: Of course your story is intriguing but the big shock for the film world is Marc being the grandson of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. How his life would have been if he were with his family. How much has Marc gone to research his roots as a Welles?
Reed: One of the interesting things in our film is that it’s about history. There’s a history that I want to forget because I used to be somebody else that I want to put behind me. It happens to be the history that my brother Marc wants to hold onto. He’s very nostalgic and sentimental person. One of the things that was surprising to me is the extent Marc was holding to our childhood instead of latching into being the grandson of Welles. He’s comfortable and in peace with that time.
Rahimi: It’s a great irony that he wanted to be you while you want his genes.
Reed: Yes there’s a line in our film where I say that my brother always envied my genes but now I envy his genes. The irony is there and you can’t write that.
Rahimi: It intrigued me that Marc was playing this piano piece without having any training or being able to read notes. Did you ever find out what that piece is?
Reed: It’s his own original composition.
Prodigal Sons Opens in New York City this Friday, February 22nd.
(Note: This was originally published during the 22nd AFI Film Festival in 2008.)
