Dad or a Life

A classic road movie that tackles a contemporary problem: how do you make contact with a father who doesn't want to get involved? The forced pun of the film's title describes exactly how the main character, Sandra Van Slooten, feels. She is the daughter of a German mother and an American father, and when she receives the first letter from her dad in 17 years, she decides to go and visit him. He lives in a mobile home on an Indian reservation near the Mexican border, but when she finally gets there, it turns out that he has moved on to Seattle. Van Slooten decides to set off on the long trip north, visiting Mormon family members and her father's friends along the way. In not necessarily chronological, but strict geographical order, we get to know the history and members of this exceptional family. Van Slooten's journey is interspersed with old home movies and photos, as well as with quotes from the letters her father has sporadically written to her and her mother over the years. Accompanied by her observations on contemporary America, we travel along the West Coast with her, looking for a father who apparently doesn't want to be found.