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"I used to think that he just wasn't thinking about the people he loved that were around him," says the director. "Now I know he realized that he knew what he was doing. It's not so much black and white - he was a conflicted man and I have a lot of compassion for that."
That Kahn was willing to pursue the project for many years over several continents despite the painful truths it exposed was a testament to the director's tenacity.
"It took five years to make this film because I was doing a lot of the fundraising and of course being involved in the whole process. There were a lot of times where I was doing this where I would have to stop and question what I was doing. Why was I doing this? What was I accomplishing with this? It was really personal heart-wrenching stuff and I didn't always know why I was doing it."
Inspired largely by Ross McElwee's "Sherman's March," Kahn narrates the story himself and is prominently featured throughout the film. The film relies on a wide range of formats, using 16mm and Super 16 when shooting the buildings, Beta SP for interviews and digital video in spots. Though the director is satisfied with the results, he admits he'd have preferred taking a more active role in the principal photography.
"I personally filmed the footage of my mother and the footage of my father's neighborhood. Frankly I wish I'd filmed more by myself. I think there's something about the way someone recognizes you as an individual that's far more immediate and real than if you're with a complete crew."
While Kahn may have a list of suggested improvements, the film continues to garner awards and rave reviews. “My Architect” was recently nominated for an IFP Independent Spirit Award.
"The most exciting thing is that the audiences seem to be really embracing the film. It's important to me that, though it comes from a very painful and confusing place, in the end it's really a life affirming story. That people watch and can see that it is possible to achieve redemption through love. That no matter how long it's been and how much mystery there is behind someone they love, that they can go out and they can find those answers and find new meanings," says Kahn.
"People come up to me all the time and tell me they identify with what I was trying to do. They've lost someone or they're missing someone who's dead that they wish they had spent more time getting to know. It happens far more often than you’d think."
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Written by Richard Sharp
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002: Nathaniel Kahn
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