Morgan Dews is a documentary maker that I hope is on the cusp of major success. I’m a documentary junkie, no doubt, and his very personal work, Must Read After My Death, is a fascinating glimpse into the secrets of a family. Here’s a synopsis of the work: “When a Hartford couple turns to psychiatry for help with their marriage in 1960, things quickly spiral out of control. Couples counseling, individual and group therapy and 24-hour marathon sessions ensue. Their four children suffer and are given their own psychiatrists. Pills are prescribed, people are institutionalized, shock-therapy is administered. This is an intimate story in the family’s own words, from an extraordinary collection of audio recordings and home movies, illuminating a difficult and extraordinary time.” The couple? Dews’ grandparents. One of the children? Dews’ mother. Enough background, now on to the interview. My thanks to Morgan for his time. Keep an eye out for upcoming film festivals in your area, if your lucky, they’ll be showing this documentary.

Tim O’Shea: Growing up with your grandmother, did you have any idea the degree of what she and her children endured as a family?

Morgan Dews: None. As I say at the beginning of this film, this is a story that my grandmother never ever talked to me about. I found out about it through the tapes after she died. She would always say, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” This story is basically the opposite of that. She had psychiatrists saying that she should express herself, her doubts, anger and fear. These audio diaries became a place for her to do that. So it really is made up of the worst hours of the worst days of the worst years. In that sense, it isn’t a complete picture of their life as a family, which was, in many ways, quite lovely. It is the secret story of the dark days of a family.

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