With Dad (2021)
WITH DAD is a short nonfiction film that chronicles the work of American photographer Stephen DiRado, specifically during the painful 20-year period of his father’s decline and eventual death from Alzheimer’s disease. DiRado, known for long-term projects, used his antique large-format box camera to meticulously document the end of his artistic mentor's life in a way that celebrates a legacy without concealing the trauma inherent in the premature loss of a loved one. Based on DiRado's book of the same name, WITH DAD includes interviews with Stephen DiRado, new high-resolution scans of his work and contemporaneous digital video footage shot by his brother, Chris.
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AWARDS
Best Short Documentary
2021 NYC Independent Film Festival
Best Short Documentary
Best Editing
2021 Red Dirt Film Festival
Grand Jury Prize -- Documentary Short
2020 Mystic Film Festival
Best Documentary
2020 Massachusetts Independent Film Festival
Youth Jury First Prize -- Best Short Documentary
2020 Rhode Island International Film Festival
Gold Remi Award -- Documentary Short Subject
2020 Houston International Film Festival
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OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
2021 New York City Independent Film Festival
2021 Red Dirt Film Festival
2020 St. Louis International Film Festival
2020 Black Bear Film Festival
2020 Chagrin Documentary Film Festival
2020 GlobeDocs
2020 Mystic Film Festival
2020 Massachusetts Independent Film Festival
2020 Rhode Island International Film Festival
2020 Houston International Film Festival
2020 FilmFest52
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PRESS + REVIEWS
”In WITH DAD, A Son Documents His Father’s 20-Year Fight With Alzheimer’s”
WGBH — September 21, 2021”
”Documentary Chronicles Father’s Battle With Alzheimer’s”
Alzheimer’s News Today — September 21, 2021
WITH DAD Chronicles A Father’s Fight Against Alzheimer’s Disease”
Steven Wesley Photography — September 21, 2021
“The Long Goodbye of a Good Man”
ClarkNow — September 20, 2021
“WITH DAD is a moving exercise in less-is-more filmmaking.”
REINVENT THE LENS — June 5, 2021
“WITH DAD earns top honors at Red Dirt Film Festival”
ClarkNow — April 26, 2021
Episode 144: Soren Sorensen
ZEBRAS IN AMERICA Podcast — November 5, 2020
DiRado and Sorensen Interviewed by Travis Condon on
The K-Zone WPKZ 105.3FM/AM1280 — August 28, 2020
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Director Statement
The idea to make WITH DAD came directly from two films I saw in 2018 while attending graduate school at Vermont College of Fine Arts: Yance Ford’s Oscar®-nominated 2017 feature, STRONG ISLAND and Michael Almereyda’s 2013 short, SKINNINGROVE, two films that share very little in common, besides the too-broad “documentary” classification. I was surprised by Yance Ford’s self-described formalist approach to STRONG ISLAND and the way he developed a set of “rules” for making the film. Aesthetically, I was drawn to the way he included his own hands presenting family photographs in overhead shots. With SKINNINGROVE, I was particularly interested in the straightforward slideshow of black and white images, narrated by the photographer Chris Killip, that Almereyda edited from a 90-minute lecture into a 15-minute short. After that particular screening, I immediately thought of Stephen DiRado, who is a colleague of mine at Clark University. And while WITH DAD is less formally-restrained than I originally intended it to be, it was helpful to the production for me to keep Ford's and Almereyda's work in mind. Ford broke his rules so I figured I could break mine.
—soren
WITH DAD Trailer (30s)
Director Soren Sorensen (L) and subject Stephen DiRado (R) talk to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, February 2020 | Photo: Ashley Green
WITH DAD Trailer (1m)
Yance Ford’s 2017 feature Strong Island (top) and Michael Almereyda’s 2013 short Skinningrove (bottom) inspired With Dad.