As an eight-year-old, your parents are your world. They take care of you, inspire you, teach you, and are subject to your unconditional love. In the summer of 2006 Kurtis Watson’s father Leonard dropped him off at day camp. That was the last time anyone saw him alive. Thirty, days later he was hanging in a tree in a nearby park from apparent suicide. This shocked family and friends. After all, Leonard seemed to be a happy-go-lucky man who didn’t let anything bother him. For 14 years Kurtis had no idea why his father did what he did, but after his mother sent him digital copies of his father’s home movies he started uncovering small details that would change his life and the way he looked at his father.

My Dad’s Tapes is a powerful documentary that can be hard to watch at times. Showing both happy moments to sad discoveries, it will open your eyes to how mental illness can hide in even the most jovial of people. It also shows us how all of us need to watch more closely for signs of mental illness in those we love. It’s the first film by Kurtis Watson.  Talking to his family, especially his mother, about what happened must have been especially difficult to do.

While My Dad’s Tapes is obviously very low budget, it is extremely well-thought out and emotional. Good documentaries leave you with something to think about, and this one is no exception. The videos he watched can never answer every question Kurtis has about why his father did what he did. But it can help him and his family finally move on from it. It will also help others who most likely have the same questions about their own friends and family who followed the same path.