Official Trailer for ‘Great Photo, Lovely Life’ Doc About Family Secrets
by Alex Billington
November 22, 2023
Source: YouTube
“When I watch these tapes, I see a man with a serious problem who knows he’s not going to get caught.” HBO has revealed an official trailer for an acclaimed documentary film titled Great Photo, Lovely Life, featuring a photojournalist examining her own family’s traumatic secrets in search of healing. It premiered at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival earlier this year; streaming in December on Max. HBO Documentary Films presents an Ark Media Production – the very personal Great Photo, Lovely Life: Facing A Family’s Secrets follows photojournalist Amanda Mustard’s investigation into the sexual abuse crimes committed by her grandfather, a chiropractor. Stark, confessional interviews with Amanda’s grandfather are complemented by insights and emotional conversations with Amanda’s mother and sister, who are both survivors, her uncle, her grandfather’s former employers, and survivors outside of the family. The goal of this film is to forge a path for survivors to shed light on the abuse in order to make sense of the past, find peace in the present, and empower them to move forward. It is hard to sum this up in words, so I’ll let the trailer speak for itself.
Here’s the official trailer for Anderson & Mustard’s doc Great Photo, Lovely Life, direct from YouTube:
Amanda Mustard, a renowned photojournalist drawn to the power of truth-telling through the lens of her camera, returns home to Pennsylvania to investigate the multiple sexual abuse crimes committed by her grandfather. A visual whirlwind of memories from her family’s archive unravels a world of secrets and help illustrate a granddaughter’s unflinching attempt to disrupt a cycle of intergenerational trauma through the voices of the survivors and her grandfather himself. An eight-year cinematic journey with revealing interviews, archival photographs, and intimate home movies, the doc film documents a personal journey to not only uncover, but also understand the impact her grandfather, a local chiropractor, had on her family after committing decades of serial sexual abuse, and explores the complexities of the silence that followed. Great Photo, Lovely Life is co-directed by the filmmakers Amanda Mustard (making her directorial debut) & Rachel Beth Anderson (director of the docs First to Fall and Unschooled). Produced by Amanda Mustard, Rachel Beth Anderson, Luke Malone. This initially premiered at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival earlier this year. HBO will debut the doc streaming on Max starting December 5th, 2023 this fall.