51 Birch Street

Do we ever really know our parents? Documentary filmmaker Doug Block had every reason to believe his parents' 55-year marriage was a good one. So he is unprepared when, three months after his mother's unexpected death, his father phones to announce that he is moving to Florida to live with his secretary from 40 years before. Always close to his mother and equally distant from his father, he is stunned. When the long-time family home is sold, Doug realises that he only has a few short weeks before his father will be gone, and a lifetime of memories will be packed away forever. He grabs his camera and heads to suburban Long Island, determined to learn more about his parents' marriage, and confront this silent stranger who is his father. Through probing conversations, interviews with his sisters and the surprising discovery of 35 years of his mother's diaries, he comes to terms with his two parents, who are far more complex and troubled than he ever imagined. spans a period of 60 years of family life, weaving together hundreds of faded snapshots and 8mm home movies with two decades of personal documentary footage.